


The Seduction of Masumi Koutsu

by 0bviousLeigh



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: F/F, Polyamory, the first fic of it's kind are you ready for this?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-12 12:28:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9071713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/0bviousLeigh/pseuds/0bviousLeigh
Summary: After the interdimensional war, Masumi falls a little bit in love with four girls, and in turn they fall a little bit in love with her.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> /kicks down your door/ Hey look it's my two favorite things that this fandom lacks, lesbians and Masumi!

Masumi and Yaiba left LDS shortly after the interdimensional war began. Between the disappearance of their Professors, their senior classmates, and their friend, they had begun to lose faith in their school. When they learned that they had been tricked into thinking that Kurosaki Shun had been a student at their school, they were livid, and they packed up their things and quit.

“Where do we go now?” Yaiba had asked Masumi.

Masumi had rolled her eyes. “Where do you think?”

You-Show was in shambles—Yuya was gone and Yuzu was missing, and Shuzo was barely holding himself together without his daughter. Yoko Sakaki was doing most of the teaching, and she was a great teacher when she actually had a class. Three children and two jaded preteens wasn’t much of a school. But when Masumi and Yaiba left LDS, they ended up inspiring a few students who admired them to follow in their footsteps. As the weeks went by, Shuzo came back to the school and became inspired to teach students so they wouldn’t go missing like Yuzu had. At first Masumi found his style of teaching childish, and she wondered why Yoko allowed so many questions. At LDS, classes were conducted like lectures. Kids listened to their teachers, and they repeated.

But this style allowed for so much freedom, almost more than Masumi knew what to do with. She felt like she was learning from the ground up, but she also felt like she was getting stronger for it. As time went by, she found herself wishing Yuzu would come back, so they could have another duel and Masumi could test her newfound skills against a worthy opponent. And because…dang it all, she missed Yuzu. She had thought that in giving Yuzu Crystal Rose, she was opening the door for friendship; a friendship that never got to bloom because Yuzu disappeared. She wished she could have a chance to go back to that. She wished she could try again.

Masumi gets that wish, and a whole lot more.


	2. Yuzu

Masumi doesn’t know the war is over until Hokuto comes to her house to ask what happened to the tournament. Masumi is overjoyed to see him and she calls Yaiba over to celebrate. They take Hokuto back home to his parents, and the following day they take him to You-Show so he can enroll as a student. At the school they learn that Yuya, Yuzu, and Yusho have returned as well, and they bring with them some unsettlingly familiar faces. It’s bizarre, staring at these people who look like Yuya and Yuzu, yet don’t look like them at all; almost as bizarre as learning that there were three other dimensions. Masumi gets over the strangeness very quickly.

Yuzu and Yuya introduce their dimensional counterparts. Once Masumi has their names down it gets easier to tell them apart. In fact the more time she spends with them, the better it gets. Serena, Ruri, and Rin may look to Yuzu at first glance, but they’re actually quite different, and it’s not just because of their hair. Yuzu’s eyes are brighter, Ruri’s face is softer, Serena is always pulled taught like a loaded bow, and Rin is the loudest of them all.

The same goes for Yuya’s counterparts, Masumi can tell them apart with no problem, and as the days go by it becomes increasingly clear that Masumi is one of the few people who can tell the quadruplets apart from each other.

“That’s Ruri,” Masumi whispers to Ayu when she cheers Rin’s name during a duel.

“How do you not recognize Serena?” She snaps when Hokuto calls Serena by Yuzu’s name.

“That is obviously not Yuto,” She tells Shuzo when Yuri’s the one with his hand raised in the classroom.

As the school grows in reputation when Yusho comes back to teaching and new students flood in, the one large class of students splits into experienced and novices, and there’s less opportunity for confusion—most of the people in class with the quadruplet counterparts have known them for a long time, long enough to tell them apart. When there is brief confusion, Masumi is usually the first person to correct the mistake.

“It’s not your name they’re getting wrong,” Yaiba says, “Why does it bug you so much?”

Masumi shrugs. “I’d get pissed if it was me.”

“But it’s not you.”

Masumi stomps on his foot. “Bug off, will you? You’re the only one complaining.”

Indeed, Masumi has noticed that when the wrong name is called, the person being mis-named will usually look at her as if to say, ‘Give me a hand here, will you?’ They all seem to find it kind of funny.

One day after class, Yuzu taps Masumi’s shoulder and asks her to stay behind. She waves off her friends and sits at one of the desks, and Masumi sits next to her.

“What’s up?” Masumi asks.

“I thought you should know what Serena, Ruri, Rin, and myself really are,” Yuzu says, twisting her hands in her lap.

“Really are?” Masumi parrots.

Yuzu explains that what Reiji said was true, the dimensions used to be one, but were separated due to a cataclysmic collision of energy. But that energy came in the form of two people, Zarc and Ray Akaba.

“Akaba?” Masumi gasps.

Yuzu nods. “Leo Akaba’s daughter. The energy didn’t just break the dimensions apart, it…it broke Zarc and Ray. Yuya, Yuri, Yugo, and Yuto are all parts or Zarc, reborn into the different dimensions. And I’m Ray, or part of Ray, along with Serena, Ruri, and Rin.”

Masumi stares at Yuzu. She blinks a few times. Finally she says, “Okay.”

Yuzu sobs through the next part of her story, that Leo Akaba was going to force them to become Ray again, that they nearly lost themselves in his plan, and she’s afraid that she’ll never be anything other than part of Ray.

“Well that’s not true,” Masumi says firmly, “Because you’re Yuzu, you always have been. That hasn’t changed, I mean yeah you grew up a bit since I last saw you, but I know who you are. I don’t know who Ray is, but I know who Yuzu is. How can you be no more than part of Ray, if the people around you know that you’re Yuzu?” She frowns. “Did that even make any sense?”

Yuzu laughs and wipes her cheeks. “Yeah, it did.” She smiles. “Thanks Masumi, I really needed to hear that. You’re a great friend.”

Masumi waves her hand. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” She knows that she’s blushing, and she quickly stands up. “C’mon let’s get out of here,” she says quickly, “It’s too warm in here.”

“Wait,” Yuzu says quickly, “There’s one more thing.”

Masumi sits down again. “What is it?”

Yuzu takes a deep breath. “We, the four of us, we can merge into Ray at will. Sort of. We’re still working out the kinks and we’re not even sure if we’d ever all want to be one person again but sometimes we can’t control it, we’re just…we wake up all in one body.”

Masumi’s jaw drops. “You…what?”

“It’s freaky, I know…”

“IT’S FUCKING AWESOME!” Masumi shrieks. She covers her mouth. “Crap, I’m sorry, excuse my French but that’s amazing! You can become one person?! Wait, what happens when you like un-merge? Are you naked? Is this like Fruits Basket? Should I be carrying around extra clothes or something in case this happens in front of the kids because they don’t need to see that.”

Yuzu starts laughing, and then she starts crying. Masumi’s at a loss for what to do, but she doesn’t have to anything it turns out. Yuzu launches herself at Masumi and hugs her tightly.

“You’re the first person I’ve told, outside of the lancers,” Yuzu sobs. “I was so scared.”

Masumi pats Yuzu’s back. “Well I’m…I’m glad you told me. But…why me?”

Yuzu leans back and rubs her eyes. She gives Masumi a shaky smile. “Because you…you can tell us apart, and you have no idea how much that means to us, all four of us. The other three knew I was telling you this but I didn’t want the conversation to be more overwhelming than it was already going to be, you know?” She clears her throat. “And I felt like we were starting to be friends before the war. Do you think we can go back to that?”

Masumi nods. “I think we can. Thanks for being so honest with me.”

They leave the classroom, and they exchange phone numbers and make plans to hang out soon.

Over the next few days Masumi pretends not to notice that Serena, Rin, and Ruri are a little skittish around her. She doesn’t treat them any differently than she did before, and soon they fall back into a comfortable attitude around Masumi. The plans to hang out end up falling through, because high school exams are coming up and the former Lancers have a lot to do to catch up on their school work, and Masumi is also busy preparing for the tests.

It all pays off when the test results come back. Masumi scored high enough to get into her dream school, her parents couldn’t be prouder of her, and things finally seem to be getting back to normal.

 

On the first day of high school, Masumi walks into her homeroom and nearly chokes on her own saliva when she sees Serena sitting in the back of the class. Without hesitation or much thought, really, Masumi takes the seat beside her.

“I had no idea you were coming here,” Masumi says.

Serena jumps and looks at Masumi wide-eyed. “I had no idea _you_ were coming here!”

Somehow in the weeks after applications went in, no one at You-Show ever mentioned where they were going to high school. Maybe because they were all stressed about it, maybe because it wasn’t like they’d never see each other again, but Masumi just never imagined anyone she knew coming to this school.

“So is it…all of you?” Masumi asks.

Serena nods. “They just wouldn’t let us all be in the same classes, because we live together.” She looks put-off. “Why, does it bother you?”

“No,” Masumi says, “I’m just…kind of surprised. This is such a specific program.” The school only has four classes for each year, and each class is meant to specialize in a certain thing—Math, Science, Music/Performing Arts, and Technology. The school was founded on the basis of getting girls interested in male-dominated fields.

Serena seems to relax a bit. “Yeah, we wouldn’t have known about it if Yuzu wasn’t interested in being a music major.”

“That makes sense,” Masumi says, “I can’t believe I never asked her about it.” She shrugs. “Well, I know now. So you’re science and Yuzu is arts, what are Rin and Ruri?”

“Rin’s in technology, Ruri’s in math,” Serena answers.

“What about the Sakaki boys? And Shun?”

“Shun, Yugo, and Yuri are going to our brother school, you know that stupid snotty private school,” Serena says, rolling her eyes, “And Yuto and Yuya are going to the city—” she stutters to a halt, her face going white.

“Academy?” Masumi offers.

“Yeah that thing,” Serena mutters.

Academia was the “school” Leo Akaba ran in the Fusion dimension, the dimension that Serena is from. The trio of new girls have never talked about what their lives were like before they came to standard, and Masumi can see that there’s a reason for that.

The rest of the day passes without incident, and soon Serena seems to be past the incident from the morning. At lunch she and Masumi meet up with the other three girls, all of whom are surprised but happy to see Masumi, and they claim a table and spend the period discussing how their morning classes went. At the end of the day they regroup and make their way over to You-Show, talking about how their afternoon classes went.

Upon arriving at the school, they notice a conspicuous absence in their classroom. Now that they’re all in high school, Shuzo thought it appropriate to teach the older students separately from the kids, so when four students go missing (five since Sora tags along on account of he lives in the Sakaki house too), it makes a difference.

“Where’s the rest of the boys?” Yuzu asks Shun. “Didn’t Yugo and Yuri come here with you?”

Shun shakes his head. “Shuzo and Yoko wanted them home today.”

“Why?” Yuzu asks.

“They had to talk, or something,” Shun says. “Sounds ominous.”

But Masumi, who has been noticing something about Yoko over the past few weeks, claps her hands excitedly. “I KNEW IT!” She cries.

“Knew what?” Rin asks.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Masumi asks, “Yoko is pregnant!”

Yuzu gasps while Shun, Ruri, Rin, and Serena gape at her like she’s grown another head.

“No way,” Rin says, “Isn’t it…kind of late for that?”

“No way,” Masumi cries, “Yoko’s only like, 30-something, isn’t she? I read she and Yusho got married young. Plus like, her husband’s been missing for three years, obviously when he came back…”

Shun screams and covers his ears. “SHUT UP!”

The girls giggle, and they discuss the matter among themselves until Shuzo enters the classroom and Yuzu leaps to her feet.

“Hey dad, is Yoko pregnant?” She asks loudly.

Shuzo drops a stack of papers and sputters, “I, th-that’s none of my business or yours, not yet!”

“Yet?!” Ruri and Rin scream.

Shuzo flails his hands. “TODAY WE’LL TALK ABOUT MAGICIAN ARCHETYPES!”

But the rumor has been started, and it’s confirmed the next day when the boys are back at You-Show, and Yusho and Yoko themselves come to class to tell the older kids some news.

Masumi can hardly contain herself. “Are you having a baby?!” She screams.

Yoko smiles and nods.

There’s a shriek from every girl in the room and they all rush over to hug Yoko and congratulate her. The boys seem kind of dumbfounded.

“How’d you know?” Yuya asks Masumi.

“Women’s intuition,” Masumi says. Actually, she knows because there hasn’t been a year in her life when one of her relatives wasn’t having a baby, and three years ago her own mother had a baby, so she knows the signs.

Masumi also knows what it takes to throw a baby shower, and from that minute she starts planning one for Yoko, and she brings it up to her fellow students a week later, taking over the classroom before their lesson starts and commandeering the whiteboard. She makes a list of what they need, and a list of all the ways they can raise money for it.

“Whoa now,” Hokuto says, “Why are we throwing her a baby shower?”

Masumi glares at him. “Because she basically ran this school when things went to hell, and she deserves it. And because I feel like it, and anyone who doesn’t feel like helping me can answer for it right now.”

“We’ll help,” Yuya says.

“Count us in!” Yuzu cries, “This is going to be awesome!”

“Good,” Masumi says happily. “First things first—money.”

 

“I hate you,” Hokuto grumbles to Masumi.

Masumi grins at him. “Shut up and keep blowing.”

Hokuto heaves a sigh and goes back to inflating balloons. Masumi has him making animal balloons for kids, down the block Shun is supervising Sora and Yaiba as they run a lemonade stand, and the rest of their group is washing cars. It’s the first warm day they’ve had since winter set in, a perfect day for a car wash.

“Try and get some soap on the car,” Masumi calls as Yuya blows some suds at Yuri’s face. “And keep the water on the car, too!” She adds as Yuri raises a bucket in Yuya’s direction.

Masumi hears a squeal and a pop and she turns around. Rin is dripping wet. “Who did that?!”

Serena has her hands behind her back, and Rin eyes her. “Was it you?!”

Serena pulls a water balloon out from behind her back. “Couldn’t resist, I’ve never made on before,” she says innocently. She runs down the block and throws the other balloon at Shun. He screams and chases her back, threatening to dunk her head in a bucket.

Masumi runs between them and holds her hands out. “Water fight after,” She says firmly, looking between them. “We need to wash way more cars and sell more lemonade to reach our goal.”

Shun and Serena separate, glaring playfully at each other. Once everything is back under control, Masumi quickly counts the money in the safe. It’s about half of what she’s been hoping to get, but the day is still young.

“This was a good idea,” Masumi hears. She turns around and comes face-to-face with Yuzu.

“Thanks,” Masumi says.

Yuzu holds out a cup of lemonade. “I paid for it,” she says with a smile.

Masumi laughs and accepts the cup. “Every little bit helps,” she says taking a sip. “At least someone over there knows how to make lemonade,” she says, glancing towards the trio at the end of the street. “When I did this with my cousins, over in India, the first batch of lemonade we made was terrible. We had to throw it out.”

“What were you raising money for?” Yuzu asks.

“Our oldest cousin was pregnant, we wanted to buy a gold necklace for the baby.”

“Do you go to India a lot?” Yuzu asks.

“Every summer,” Masumi says, “To see my papa’s family.”

“What’s it like?”

Masumi tells her about Mumbai, the city of modern luxury where you can still see thousands of years of tradition laced into everyday life, where it’s busier and louder than Japan could ever be, but even then, moments of peace can be found. Yuzu’s eyes positively sparkle.

“I wish I could go there,” she sighs. “If I do, will you come too?”

“Me?” Masumi blurts.

“Who could possibly be a better person to see it with?” Yuzu laughs, and Masumi’s stomach does a half dozen backflips.

“HEY!” Hokuto screams, “Quit chatting over there and help us wash this van!”

Masumi and Yuzu jump and rush over to the filthy van that just pulled up. It takes all hands on deck and a full hour to get it clean, but the man who owns the van pays them triple what they were charging. By the end of the day, they’ve surpassed their fundraising goal.

“Alright!” Yaiba cheers when Masumi makes the announcement. “You know what that means!”

Masumi stares in confusion as everyone throws their cell phones into Yuya’s backpack and Serena and Yuri pull two huge coolers out of nowhere.

“What the…?” Masumi begins.

“WATER BALLOON FIGHT!” Serena screeches, and she lobs a balloon right at Shun’s chest. “GIRLS VERSUS BOYS!”

Masumi tosses her phone in the backpack and dives for the cooler. She grabs two water balloons and hits Yuya and Yugo one right after the other. Soon the street is filled with shrieks and shouts as the balloons are tossed, and even though they’re on the same team, Yuzu fills a bucket of water and dumps it over Masumi’s head.

“What was that for?” Masumi demands, but she’s laughing.

“You were too dry,” Yuzu says, mischief in her eyes. “Besides, isn’t that what sports teams do to their coaches when they win? We won, we reached our goal, and you got us there.”

Masumi knows her face is on fire, and she bushes even more when Yuzu shouts, “Three cheers for Masumi!”

It’s totally embarrassing, and touching, and Masumi would have cried if Yaiba and Hokuto hadn’t dumped another bucket of water over her head after that.

When the balloons have been used up and the remnants of them thrown out, the group heads into the school to dry off. Apparently they all prepared for this, but Masumi didn’t. Yuzu gives her a t-shirt and sweat pants to change into.

“Do I need to start carrying clothes around for you?” She whispers with a wink. Her expression is full of playful mischief, and Masumi can oh-so clearly recall the day she asked Yuzu that same question, albeit under different circumstances. Coming from Yuzu now, the words carry an entirely different meaning, and from the upturned corner of Yuzu’s lovely lips, Masumi’s not imagining that meaning.

Masumi laughs and thanks her, trying to ignore the sudden pounding of her own heart, then scurries into a classroom to change. On the walk home, she keeps holding the collar of Yuzu’s shirt to her nose, trying to figure out what it smells like—something fragrant, but not overly so. She tells herself that it’s just curiosity, that she’s not slowly becoming lightheaded the more she inhales and wonders if this is what Yuzu always smells like, if Masumi hugged her would this aroma cling to Yuzu’s skin and hair, or would it be different? She recalls the sparkle in Yuzu’s eyes, the grin on her face, and the images linger in her head into the night as she gets into bed, still wearing that damn shirt.

Masumi pulls the shirt collar over her nose and inhales deeply one last time. The scent is fading, but Masumi’s imagination is only getting more vivid. She thinks she’s fallen a little bit in love with Yuzu today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is probably the second longest chapter in the story--I think the longest chapter is going to be chapter 8 (9 including the prologue).
> 
> So, what do you think so far?


	3. Rin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgot to mention, I call this ship (Masumi x Yuzu/Rin/Serena/Ruri) "gembraceletshipping" since we have the 4 bracelet girls and Masumi runs a gem deck.

It’s not the fanciest party Masumi’s ever thrown, but it’s okay, because she knows Yoko will be happy just to have everyone together. Masumi ordered a bunch of sushi platters (all of it safe for pregnant women) and had the older kids make some stuff to bring, like rice, fried veggies, and of course, cookies. Most of their budget went into food and decorations, but there was enough left to buy some diapers, wipes, and a few onesies. The party takes place on the duel field, the only place big enough to accommodate all the students in the school and the parents who wanted to attend—Masumi’s parents included, and of course, her little brother, Mamoru.

“MAMI!!!”

Masumi pauses in tying a balloon to look up at her brother. He holds out a balloon, half inflated, his cheeks flushed red and a proud smile on his face. Masumi quickly finishes tying her own balloon and takes Mamoru’s, tying it off for him.

“Good job, baby!” Masumi praises.

Mamoru beams and asks, for the fifth time, “Is this for our baby?”

‘Our baby’ is how he refers to any baby born to their family. The Kotsu family did just attend a baby shower last month, so it’s understandable he’d be confused, he’s only three.

“No, this is for a friend’s baby,” Masumi says again.

“Okay!” Mamoru cries, and he scampers off to play with the other kids.

“He’s adorable,” Masumi hears. She looks over her shoulder, Rin is hovering.

“He’s the cutest baby I’ve ever met in my life,” Masumi says proudly.

“He looks just like you.”

Masumi gives her an ‘are you kidding’ look. Masumi inherited her father’s dark skin, and Mamoru is pale as the moon itself. People rarely think they’re related, Masumi has been mistaken for his babysitter on more than one occasion.

“I mean it,” Rin says. “You have the same face. You can really see it when you’re smiling at each other. I bet in your baby pictures you have those same chubby cheeks he’s got.”

Masumi feels some tension leave her shoulders. “Actually, you’re right about that.”

Rin smiles. “I knew it!”

Across the room Yuzu suddenly screams, “SHE’S COMING! Yuya just texted me that they’re here!”

The entire Sakaki household is arriving together, apparently Yoko’s been told that the kids want to show her their dueling skills—she’s been away from the school for a month.

Over by the door, Noboru shuts off the lights. The kids and parents gather together in the center of the room, and someone drags Masumi to the center of the group.

“What the—?” She sputters.

“You planned this whole thing!” Rin whispers.

Before Masumi can object, they hear voices in the hallway and fall silent. The door opens and Yoko says, “Why is it so dark?”

Noboru turns on the lights and everyone cries, “Surprise!”

Yoko’s jaw drops and her hands fly to her mouth. She starts laughing. “Oh my goodness!”

Yuya bounds into the room. “Welcome to your baby shower!” he cries, tossing a handful of confetti into the air. Yuto, Yuri, Yugo, and Sora enter the room and unfold a banner reading “Congratulations and Good Luck,” signed by all the students in the school.

Yoko’s eyes fill with tears. “Oh my…this is so lovely.” She looks over at the students and parents, all smiling at her. “I don’t know what to say!” She laughs.

Ayu grabs Masumi’s hand and drags her forward. “Masumi planned it all!” She says.

Masumi feels her cheeks heat up. “Everyone helped,” she says.

Yoko hugs Masumi tightly. “Thank you,” she whispers, and she kisses Masumi’s cheek. She hugs all the students and thanks all of them, and a warm feeling of pride settles in Masumi’s chest. She never would have done anything like this at LDS, it was too unprofessional. But this school is all about the personal, about bonding with fellow students and teachers, and turning strangers into family.

The little kids start gravitating towards the food, so the older students quickly head over to supervise them and make sure there’s no grabbing or hogging. Once all the little kids Yoko, and parents have been served, the older kids finally serve themselves and sit down, and Shuzo gets up and clears his throat.

“I would like to propose a toast to our upperclassmen,” he says, “Because they organized all of this, from planning to setting up today. Especially to Masumi Kotsu, who spearheaded this whole thing.” Everyone raises their glasses. Masumi feels her cheeks heat up, but she’s positively giddy.

As soon as everyone starts eating, Mamoru scampers over to Masumi and plops himself in her lap. Masumi’s father trails after him, Mamoru’s plate in his hands, and he apologizes to Masumi, but she waves it off.

“He can stay,” she says, taking the plate, “Go have adult conversations.”

Yuzu leans over and holds out her hand. “Hi, Mamoru,” she says.

Mamoru shakes her hand very politely, then sticks his hand in his avocado roll. Literally, in it.

“RouRou, that’s not how we eat,” Masumi scolds. She grabs a napkin and wipes his fingers, and after that she feeds him herself. She’s been feeding Mamoru for so long that she doesn’t even need to look at him, or even really think about it. She chats with her friends, eats from her own plate, and feeds her brother all at the same time. She doesn’t even really notice that she’s the center of attention until she realizes that Rin is openly staring at her.

“Do I have something on my face?” Masumi asks her.

Hokuto laughs. “Masumi, they’ve never seen you with Mamoru before.”

“So?” Masumi asks, finally realizing that yes, everyone does keep glancing at her.

“You’re just so good with him!” Yuya says. “I hope I’m like you when the baby is born.”

Yuto, Yugo, Yuri, and Sora are all watching Masumi with awe and apprehension written all over their faces, and Masumi understands now. It can be daunting to have a younger sibling, especially when there’s a large age gap. She kisses Mamoru’s cheek and tells him to go back to mama. When he’s gone, Masumi turns back to her friends.

“I don’t usually tell people this,” she says, glancing over to Hokuto and Yaiba. “They know because I was at LDS when it happened. Mamoru was born two months premature, he spent his first few months in intensive care at the hospital. I used to spend entire nights next to his isolette, sometimes I’d talk to him or read to him, sometimes I’d just sleep. Until then I had been on the fence as to what having a little sibling would be like. I only realized how badly I wanted him when I realized…he might not make it. But he did make it and I adore him. You’ll figure out how to be older siblings on your own, and it won’t be easy, but I’m sure your sister will always be grateful to have her big brothers who love her.”

Yuya looks close to tears. “Thanks, Masumi, that’s…wait, sister?!” He yelps.

“How do you know if it’s a girl?” Ruri asks.

Masumi grins and turns to Yoko. “Hey, Yoko-san!” She calls, “Is it a girl?”

Yoko laughs and nods. “How did you know?”

“I’m psychic!” Masumi says.

“Unbelievable,” Yuri whispers.

After everyone’s eaten, the kids give Yoko her presents, and there are some games and more chatter, then desert, and all too soon the party is ending. The older students help pack up the leftover food, clean up after the kids, and put away the tables and chairs.

As Rin and Masumi dismantle a table, Rin looks over at Masumi and says, “I was never good with kids like you are.”

Masumi is confused. “Should you have been?”

Rin bites her lip. “I…kind of? I grew up in a group home, we always had kids coming in. I could help feed them and wipe their faces and stuff, but making them smile, or laugh, heck even just holding them…it kind of freaked me out, I guess. I mean, our world was so skewed. The ultra-rich and the dirt poor. I always wanted to change it, especially when I thought of those kids. But when they were so hungry or cold or desperately in need of love…I just could never give them enough of what they needed.” She sighs and looks down at her lap. “I guess I kind of feel like I failed them. I wasn’t even the one to bring change to our world, Yuya did that.”

Masumi reaches over and takes Rin’s hand. She can’t think of anything to say, so she just squeezes gently. Rin takes a deep breath and smiles at her, and they go back to folding the table.

 

The new school year has begun by the time Yoko has the baby, a little girl named Sayaka. Masumi waits until Yoko has been out of the hospital for a few days before she goes to the Sakaki house to give her congratulations. She’s bringing a box of tea as a gift, and as she walks up to the house she hears a voice call out to her. She turns and sees the Hiiragi family walking up the driveway.

“Will we be too many people?” Masumi asks.

Shuzo waves his hand. “Yoko’s probably dying for company,” he says as he rings the bell.

Yusho answers and welcomes them all in warmly. The house is filled with flowers, balloons, and gift bags—the Sakaki family is well known to the city, not the least because of Yuya’s role in the dimensional war, the announcement of a new member of their family had actually made the news the other day.

“Is this a good time?” Masumi asks even as Yusho continues to welcome them into the house.

“Are you kidding?” Yoko asks, coming into the family room, “It’s always a good time!” She’s carrying the baby in her arms, and Yuzu gasps and claps her hands.

“You saw her yesterday,” Shun teases.

“But she’s still so precious!” Yuzu squeaks. She leans over the bundle in Yoko’s arms. “Hi, Sayaka,” she whispers.

The baby stirs, and Masumi peeks over in time to see her yawn.

“She’s beautiful,” Masumi says.

“Thank you,” Yoko says. She moves closer to Masumi. “Yuzu has had her turn,” she says playfully, “So would you like to hold her?”

Masumi nods and they move to the sofa. Yoko carefully transfers Sayaka to Masumi’s arms, and the baby fusses for a moment.

“Oh, yes,” Masumi coos as Sayaka lets out a tiny cry, “This is the worst thing that’s happened to you in your whole entire life, I know.” She gently pats her back, and Sayaka soon quiets and goes still.

“Wow,” Rin says, sinking down on the sofa next to Masumi. “How did you do that?”

“Babies cry,” Masumi says. “It’s just what they do, when they’re uncomfortable, faced with the unfamiliar, or hungry, or wet, or whatever. They get over it quickly.” Masumi smiles at Rin. “But it’s not so scary when she cries, is it?”

Rin laughs. “I guess not. She sounds kind of like a cat, to me at least.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Masumi says. “She hasn’t quite gotten those wailing lungs yet.” She looks down at Sayaka and adjusts her hold on her. She’s so little, wrapped up in her soft yellow blanket, little white mittens on her hands. Masumi gently brushes her finger over them, taking Sayaka’s hand between her fingers and whispering, “Nice to meet you.”

“Why the mittens?” Rin asks in a hushed voice.

“To keep her from scratching herself by accident,” Masumi says, equally hushed. No one’s really paying attention to them, the adults are all talking, Shun and the girls have gone to check on the boys and see how they like having a baby sister. Yusho and Yoko are saying that they picked an “s” name for their daughter because they have enough “Y” children, and they didn’t want Sora to be the only one with an “S” name.

Masumi turns towards Rin. “Do you want to hold her?”

Rin’s eyes widen. “I…I don’t know.”

“I’ll be right here to help you, I promise,” Masumi says, and she’s half kidding, but Rin looks up at her hopefully.

“Well…okay then,” Rin says.

Masumi talks Rin into how to position her arms, and then she carefully places Sayaka in her hold. Sayaka shifts and whimpers, and Rin stiffens.

“Relax,” Masumi says gently. She wraps her arm around Rin’s back. “She can tell if you’re uncomfortable.” She places her other hand under Sayaka’s tiny shoulders and rubs gently. She echoes the movement on Rin’s back, and slowly both of them relax. Masumi removes her hand from Sayaka, but keeps her hand on Rin’s back.

“There you go,” Masumi says quietly, “You’ve got this.” She looks up from Sayaka to Rin, and her breath catches in her throat. Rin is positively radiant, from her eyes to her smile. She’s elated, she may even be crying. A sunbeam hits her just right and Masumi thinks she looks like a Renaissance painting. Masumi has never noticed how long and lovely Rin’s eyelashes are, and she knows Rin doesn’t wear much makeup, so it can’t be attributed to mascara. She just has beautiful eyelashes, long and thick and framing her amber eyes, eyes that look like liquid gold in the sunlight.

“She’s gorgeous,” Rin whispers, her voice breaking. “I’ve never held a baby this small before, a baby this young before.”

“It’s magical, isn’t it?” Masumi says before she can stop herself. _Rin_ is magical.

But Rin nods. “It is. She can be anything.”

“Anything at all,” Masumi agrees.

A tear slips down Rin’s cheek and she carefully wipes it away. Sayaka whimpers as Rin moves, but Rin goes back to supporting her with both arms, and she rocks Sayaka slowly. “It’s okay,” she says quietly, “I’ve got you.”

Masumi wants to imprint the image of Rin smiling down at this baby into her memory, she never wants to forget the look on Rin’s face as long as she live. She thinks she’s fallen a little bit in love with Rin today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was practically crying when I wrote this chapter it's so freakin' cute ;3;


	4. Serena

Summer vacation comes and goes. Masumi comes back from Mumbai with postcards and keychains for all her friends, and a secret wish that her crushes on Yuzu and Rin will have faded. They absolutely have not, if anything they get worse when Yuzu shows Masumi how much her vocal range has improved, and when Rin shows Masumi a photo of her and Sayaka.

But Masumi’s crushes are forced to take a backseat when she goes back to school. Things are getting challenging now, they’re moving on to more advanced experiments in science class and more in-depth homework assignments. Success means getting better chances in college, failure means falling behind everyone else.

“I’m pretty sure it’s not supposed to look like that,” Serena whispers.

Masumi shushes her. “We followed the directions exactly,” she says, but she looks between the handbook and the beaker in front of her and agrees, it doesn’t look right. But she triple checked everything, they did it right. She reaches for the next solution.

“Maybe we should stop,” Serena says.

Masumi shakes her head. “It’s fine.”

“If I have to take a decontamination shower…” Serena says.

“It’s not going to be that bad,” Masumi says. She adds 3mLs, just like she’s supposed to, and she covers her nose. “Ugh.” It’s not supposed to smell like that. She and Serena are attracting a lot of stares, and Masumi gulps as their teacher comes over.

“Well,” their teacher says. “That’s not supposed to happen.” She glances at the bottles and liquids on the desk. “You followed the instructions?”

“We did,” Masumi says. Serena snatches up a bottle and sniffs the liquid inside.

“Don’t do that!” Masumi shrieks, but Serena shakes her head.

“This was labeled incorrectly,” she says. She holds the bottle out to their teacher, who looks surprised.

“My goodness, you’re right!” She says, and she shakes her head. “Alright girls, just dump that. You both get a pass, this wasn’t your fault.”

The teacher confiscates the incorrectly labeled bottle. Serena takes the beaker full of mistakes and dumps it out, and Masumi begins cleaning up the rest of their failed experiment. They only get lab experiments once a week, and this one was a failure. Maybe not by any fault of their own, but it still sucks.

“Frowning gives you wrinkles,” Serena says, sliding back into her seat and elbowing Masumi.

Masumi rolls her eyes. “Please, I already know I’ll have wrinkles when I’m twenty, I’m so stressed.”

Serena waves her hand. “What for? Everyone knows you’re the brightest girl here, one missed lab won’t change that.”

Masumi puts her head down on the table. “Yeah, I’m good when I don’t mess up,” she mutters.

When the bell rings and everyone starts gathering their things, Serena grabs Masumi’s arm. “Do you have a free period right now?”

Masumi nods and Serena beckons her along. “Come with me.”

Masumi follows her, confused. Usually she and Serena don’t spend their free periods together, since they have pretty much every other class with each other. Masumi’s not actually sure where Serena spends her free periods, it’s not the library, that’s for sure.

Serena leads Masumi to the music department. “Yuzu told me about these rooms,” she says. She leads Masumi to one of the vocal practice rooms, currently not in use. It’s tiny, covered in cork tiles, and there’s a piano pushed up against the wall. Serena tosses her bag on the floor and sits at the piano bench, and she pats the space next to her. Masumi sits.

“Pick a song, but try to make it one I’ve heard before,” Serena says.

“The theme from Titanic,” Masumi says, because she’s hopelessly in love with two of Serena’s counterparts and feels like she’s on a sinking ship.

Serena rolls her eyes, but she puts her fingers on the piano keys and she plays. _Perfectly_. Masumi is in awe, staring openmouthed as Serena fills the room with a beautiful melody. Her hands are absolutely lovely as they dance over the piano keys, and Masumi has never noticed how fine the bones in her wrists are, so slim and elegant looking. Masumi never knew she could be so entranced by someone’s hands.

When the song ends, Masumi can’t think of anything so say other than, “That was amazing!”

Serena smiles. “Was it? I have no idea, I never actually learned to play the piano.”

“Huh?”

Serena pokes the keys. “There was one at…my old school. Nobody ever used it, nobody ever showed me where it was. I was never allowed out so I explored the school and found the piano, and I basically made it mine. I memorized the sounds the keys made, and I learned to isolate those sounds in songs I liked, and I basically created my own sheet music in my head. I know I mess up when I play these songs. I hear it, but hardly anyone else does.” She turns towards Masumi. “My point is, don’t beat yourself up about your mistakes. I know they feel big, but as easy as it is to see your own faults, it’s hard to see your own strengths.”

Masumi’s heart twists and she smiles. “Thanks. I think I needed to hear that.”

Serena grins. “And that was a sappy choice for a song. I can play the Sailor Moon theme, look!”

Her fingers dance over the piano keys and she sings—she’s actually pretty good, Masumi can tell she’s being overly dramatic on purpose, if she tried she’d probably be a really good singer, maybe as good as Yuzu is.

“Why didn’t you join the music program?” Masumi asks when Serena finishes the song.

Serena shrugs. “I like singing and piano, but it’s really not my thing. That’s always been astronomy, it’s why I have a moon-based deck. I’d love to study the stars someday. Actually all of us—Yuzu, Rin, Ruri, and myself—we’re all good at singing. I think it’s because we got it from Ray. But Yuzu is the best at it. I don’t know if Ray played an instrument or not, or if she loved science or technology, or if those are things we got on our own.” Serena’s face falls a bit and she sighs. “Yuzu told you that we can…be her, right?”

Masumi nods.

“We haven’t done it much. It’s kind of scary.”

“Scary?” Masumi asks.

Serena nods. “Maybe it’s just me who feels like this but…what if we don’t separate? I mean I know I’m part of Ray, but I don’t feel like her. I love Yuzu, Rin, and Ruri but I don’t want to be fused together with them all the time and lose what makes me myself. And I don’t what to be Ray and find out that all I am is pieces of her copy and pasted into a new body. What if that is all I am?”

“I doubt that,” Masumi says firmly. “I don’t think it would be possible for you to have lived for sixteen years independent of Ray and your counterparts only for you to be just one thing. Your experiences differ from Ray’s, she’s never lived through what you have. I may not know Ray, but I know she’d be different from you, from each of you.”

Serena takes a deep breath and smiles. “Thanks, Masumi.”

Masumi clears her throat. “No worries.”

Serena rests her arm on Masumi’s shoulder. “And sorry for unloading that on you. I’ve been talking for a while so now it’s your turn. What’s on your mind?”

Masumi searches for something to say other than ‘my giant crush on your sisters,’ and that actually does make her think of something she’s been wondering. “How do you think of Yuzu, Rin, and Ruri? Your sisters, or friends, or something else?”

“Good question,” Serena says thoughtfully. “Not my sisters…this is going to sound cheesy but maybe my soulmates? Not in a romantic sense, I think, but they do complete me in a way. I feel better now that I have them. I wonder how I ever got on without them, kind of.”

“That’s so sweet,” Masumi says. And she feels guilty about it, but she’s kind of glad she’s not crushing on two sisters, she feels like that would be kind of creepy. Not that it really helps her crush at all.

“Though by what’s on your mind, I meant more of like a ‘what’s stressing you’ kind of situation. Aside from your grades, I mean,” Serena says. She smirks. “You weren’t stressed about me, were you?”

“No way,” Masumi sputters, and Serena laughs.

“I’m just messin’ with you,” she teases, elbowing Masumi.

Masumi laughs and relaxes slightly. “I don’t know,” she says, “I guess my birthday? I’m planning on having a big party this year.”

“Really?” Serena asks, “Any special reason?”

Masumi explains, “I was thinking about a sweet sixteen, but my cousin turned sixteen last year too, and she lives in America. It was too much for the whole family to fly to America and Japan in the same year, so I decided so have a big party for my seventeenth.”

“Your birthday is in April, right?”

Masumi nods. “So it’ll be at the start of our last year of high school, one big celebration before we have to dedicate ourselves to studying for finals.”

“We?” Serena asks, her whole face lighting up.

“You think I’d have a huge party and not invite you guys?” Masumi asks.

Serena giggles and rubs the back of her neck. “I guess not. I’ve just…I’ve never been invited to a birthday party before.” She looks positively delighted. “Okay I’m sure Yuzu can fill me in but like, what’s the dress code? Fancy? I bet fancy, I need a dress then. I’ve never gone dress shopping. Oh I’ll have to get you something nice as a gift, what do you want? Never mind of course you shouldn’t tell me, it ought to be a surprise. I’ll think of something, don’t you worry.”

Masumi struggles to keep her expression under control. Her heart is beating fast enough to send her into cardiac arrest and she has to sit on her hands so she doesn’t clutch her chest. It’s a relief when the bell rings and she can scurry to the bathroom. She slumps against the stall door, head in her hands, her cheeks red as a ruby. She’ll never forget that look of joy on Serena’s face, or the excitement in her tone. She’d never been invited to a birthday party before. Masumi’s would be her first.

“Oh, dear god,” Masumi whimpers. She thinks she’s fallen a little bit in love with Serena today.


	5. Ruri

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and in this chapter we break with the formula!

Three crushes all at the same time. Masumi’s never been in this situation before, and she can honestly say she’s never had a single crush quite like these three, not even her feelings for Marco-sensei were this serious. Her crush on him was mostly hero worship, she wanted him to pat her head and tell her she did well. She wants Yuzu to come to sleep over at her house and for them to fall asleep holding hands. She wants Rin to take her for a ride on her motorcycle and show her what it means to feel like she’s flying. She wants Serena to tease her and make her laugh, and remind her not to be serious all the time. And she wants all three of them to kiss her until she can’t remember her own name. And Masumi spends so much time with all of them, it’s impossible not to think about them all hours of the day. It’s a relief when Masumi breaks away from them at school, when she goes to the library and finds Ruri sitting by herself at a table.

Masumi takes a seat opposite Ruri. “Where’s Yuzu?” She whispers—usually Yuzu and Ruri go to the library together.

“She’s getting extra vocal practice,” Ruri answers. She moves aside some of her things—not that they took up that much room to begin with—and smiles at Masumi. “We got the invitation to your party. Thanks for inviting us.”

“Of course,” Masumi says. She likes hanging out with Ruri, Ruri is safe. She’s gentle and soft, an angel on earth. Masumi wouldn’t dream of imagining Ruri pushing her up against a wall and kissing her soundly—Ruri is too pure for something like that.

Quiet conversation is allowed in the library, but Ruri and Masumi go back to their homework. Or Ruri does, Masumi is only pretending while she’s actually making a list of things to do for her party. She’s got to clean her stuff out of the guest bedroom so her grandma will have a place to sleep when she comes over, that is if she doesn’t end up sleeping in Mamoru’s room, in which case her uncle will probably stay in the guest room. And she’s got to go to the tailor this afternoon for her first fitting, the fabric for her dress finally arrived, and she wants to ask her father about altering the design for her necklace slightly to make it a lobster clasp instead of a twist.

“You okay?” Ruri asks.

Masumi looks up from her list. “Was I muttering?” She asks sheepishly.

Ruri smiles and shakes her head. “No…you’re bouncing your leg.”

Masumi crosses her ankles. “Sorry,” she says, “I’ve just got so much to plan for this party.”

Ruri closes her book. “Anything I can help with?” She asks earnestly.

Masumi smiles at her—it’s so nice of her to offer that. “Thanks, but I’m pretty much just making a list of all the things I need to remember to do and trying to organize them by what needs to get done immediately and what can wait.”

Ruri laughs softly. “That reminds me of crunch time at my old school. We had duels and written exams at the same time, and I would get so overwhelmed by what needed to get done. I used to take ten minutes every night before I went to sleep and make myself a cup of tea, and I would close my eyes and recount all the things I had managed to get done that day, without allowing myself to think about all the things I still needed to do. It was so relaxing.”

Masumi nods. “Sounds like it. I may start doing that now.”

“Let me know how it works out for you,” Ruri says. She smiles gently, brushes a strand of hair behind her ear, and looks down as she opens her book once more.

Masumi feels like she got struck by a bolt of lightning. The sun is directly behind Ruri, casting a halo of light around her head, illuminating every single stray strand of her hair and turning it into a shimmering veil. Her eyes are so soft and gentle, her fingers are so delicate as they caress the pages of her book. Masumi is overtaken with a sudden desire to have those fingers on her cheek. The moment she thinks about that, and wonders if Ruri’s fingers would be warm or cold, her heart starts pounding in a rhythm that Masumi knows only too well by now.

“Jesus Christ,” Masumi blurts before she can stop herself. She thinks she’s fallen a little bit in love with Ruri today.

Ruri looks up. “Huh?”

Masumi stands and she closes her eyes. “I…I’m feeling a little dizzy,” she says. “Maybe I should go to the nurse.”

“Do you want me to walk you there?” Ruri asks, her voice laced with concern.

Masumi shakes her head and keeps her eyes down as she gathers her things. “No, don’t worry about it, I can make it on my own.” She manages to smile at Ruri without meeting her eyes. “I’ll see you later.” And she flees the library, her heart still pounding and her face on fire.

Rather than go to the nurse, Masumi rushes to a stairwell, one that leads to the cafeteria and absolutely nowhere else, and at this time of day no one is using it. She drops her books and falls to the floor, her head cradled in her hands.

“What the hell is wrong with me?” Masumi whispers to herself. “This is utterly insane!” Not one, but four crushes?! All on four girls who are essentially the same person?

Masumi slams her fist against her forehead. “No they aren’t,” she scolds herself. They’re not the same person, they are each their own person, didn’t she just tell Serena that very thing? But that makes it worse. How could she possibly be in love with four people at once?

“Is it really love though?” Masumi asks herself. It sure feels like love, but despite her own thoughts, isn’t this more of a crush? Isn’t she too young for love?

But it feels like love—the rush she gets each time she looks at them, the desire to hold them, and to have their arms around her. She wants the same things from each of them; she wants closeness, affection, cheesy romance and sweet declarations. She wants to confide in them, she wants them to confide in her. She wants them to tell her what’s on their minds, she wants to celebrate their happiness and comfort them when they’re sad. She wants them to do the same for her. She wants to invite them into her life and have them stay forever. She wants to be invited into their lives and stay forever. She wants their concern, their joy, their sadness, their anger. She wants their smiles and their tears. She wants it all.

Masumi bangs the back of her head against the wall behind her. “Ow,” she whimpers. Now she has a headache on top of it.

What is she going to do about this?? Can she just ignore her feelings for the rest of her life? Can she pick one and confess? If she had to pick, who would it be? Yuzu would make the most since, Masumi has known her the longest and if she goes chronologically, she realized her crush on Yuzu first. But she spends more time with Serena. But Rin is so adventurous. But Ruri is so wonderful, they’re all wonderful. How could she go out with one and not be constantly wondering what it would be like with another, especially when she spends so much time with all of them? And if things go wrong, she couldn’t just turn around and date another one.

Maybe…maybe it would be best if she ignored it. Maybe she could cut them all out, cold turkey, stop talking to them so she never has to think about how confusing this all is ever again. But that thought sends a knife through her chest. Isn’t it better to have a little bit than nothing at all? Or is that worse, because she’ll constantly be pushing the boundaries between friendship and romance?

But aren’t all girls a little bit in love with each other? Didn’t Masumi read that somewhere, that girls love their best friends more? Aren’t Yuzu, Serena, Rin and Ruri Masumi’s best friends, her closest female friends? Of course she loves them, that doesn’t mean she’s in love with them. But of course she’s in love with them, dear god she’s not oblivious, this has to be love.

No, it doesn’t.

“Argh, shut up!” Masumi hisses to herself, tugging at her hair. This is getting out of hand really quickly. She has to talk to someone about this.

Masumi slams her hands against her cheeks. “Idiot, who could I possibly talk to about this?” The only people she can think of are the very people involved in this mess! She can’t tell Yuya, or Yuto, Yugo, or Yuri, because she’s not that close to them and it’s too weird. Plus she bets they can’t keep a secret from each other and she bets at least one of them (Yugo) can’t keep a secret from one of the girls (Rin), who probably can’t keep a secret from the other girls! She can’t tall Yaiba and Hokuto, how could they understand? And for god’s sake she can’t tell her parents!

Maybe…maybe she could tell Yoko? But Yoko knows Yuzu, has known her since she was a child, hat if she gets mad at Masumi for not being able to make up her mind and be faithful to one person? Masumi feels tears sting her eyes and she furiously wipes them away. She can’t cry now, she’s supposed to be happy. She’s going to a fitting for her dream dress this evening, her mom and dad are proud of her, she’s doing well in school, everything is going so right, how did things end up going so wrong so quickly?

Masumi hears the bell signaling the end of the period and she gathers her things, but she can’t possibly go to class like this, especially not when it means facing Serena. So she does what she said she was going to do; she goes to the nurse’s office and says she’s not feeling well. It’s so rare for Masumi to leave school due to illness that when her mother comes to pick her up, she immediately suggests going to the doctor.

“I’m just a little tired,” Masumi lies. “I don’t think I’m actually sick.”

Her mother looks concerned though, and Masumi promises that if she doesn’t feel better tomorrow then she’ll go to the doctor. At home she changes into her pajamas and crawls into her bed. She just wants to curl up and sleep for three years.

She hears her bedroom door open and lifts her head. Mamoru is standing her doorway.

“What’s up, RouRou?” Masumi asks.

Her brother eyes her curiously. “Are you sad about something?”

Masumi bites her lip. “Kind of.”

Mamoru hops up on her bed. “What about?”

“Big kid stuff,” Masumi says immediately. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll be fine.”

Mamoru pokes her. “Do you need to me to beat somebody up for you?”

Masumi laughs and gives her brother a hug. “No baby, I’ll be just fine.”

Mamoru kisses her cheek. “I’m not a baby anymore, Mami! I’m four years old!”

Masumi ruffles his hair. “You’ll always be my baby. Now go on, let me sleep until I feel better.”

Mamoru jumps down. “Well feel better soon so you can play with me!” He scampers off, forgetting to close the door on his way out. Masumi gets up to close it and on her way back to bed, she changes her mind and heads for her desk instead. She powers up her laptop and starts doing some research.

 _‘Liking more than one person,’_ she types into a search engine.

The search brings up hundreds of results, from videos to blogs to fanfictions. Apparently, this isn’t an unknown phenomena to the rest of the world, and it doesn’t just happen in stories written by thirteen years olds. It’s a real thing, and some people are actually in relationships that consist of three people, sometimes even four! Masumi is stunned. She always thought love was something to be shared between two people. While the majority of the world seems to agree on that, there are some who disagree, and it seems that they are vocal about the need to support people like themselves.

Masumi spends a few hours reading. She bookmarks a few webpages to go over again when she’s not quite so overwhelmed, and she finally goes back to bed for a nap. She’s not one hundred percent okay yet, but she thinks she has enough information to convince herself that she’s not a freak for being in love with four people, and enough courage to face those four people again.

She dreams about sitting down with Yuzu, Serena, Rin, and Ruri and talking to them. It’s a very nice dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously I couldn't end this chapter with Masumi's realization that she has fallen in love with Ruri or it would have been even shorter, and it's already the shortest chapter in the story. But my thinking is that once Masumi fell for Yuzu, the rest of them were like dominos. Or was Masumi the domino? IDK I'm exhausted for no apparent reason so it's hard to make sense of this =_=
> 
> What do you think of it?


	6. Masumi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [pictures](http://rainbow-galaxy-supernova.tumblr.com/post/155164843746/clothing-ref-for-chapter-6) of the dresses/jewelry
> 
> Secretly I'm hoping someone more talented than me will draw the girls in their dresses ;3;

Masumi manages to get over her breakdown quickly. It’s not like she’s ignoring the problem or forcing herself to forget about it, but it feels like her stress over the future of her relationships with Yuzu, Rin, Serena, and Ruri just take a natural backseat to her stress and excitement over her party. She made another appointment for her first fitting with the tailor and her dress is looking amazing. Her father is taking care of her jewelry, and though she asked him not to go too overboard, he seems to be doing just that.

“Papa, if it’s too fancy I’ll be afraid to wear it,” Masumi tells him as he asks her to try on different rings and tell him how heavy she’s comfortable with them being.

Her father looks wounded. “Masumi, I’ve been waiting for the chance to make something for you for years. I want you to feel like the princess that you are! Now come here, I need to measure your head.”

“My head?!” Masumi asks.

“Every princess needs a crown!” He says with a wink.

Masumi feels herself blush. It’s true, she is going for a princess theme. She’s always been sort of a tomboy, despite the fact that she loves glitter and sparkles and frills. She even picked her dress because it looked like Belle’s ball gown from the Disney movie, and her flowers for the center pieces are going to be roses. Even the venue looks kind of like the Beast’s ballroom, with towering windows and a magnificent chandelier, and big enough for two hundred people to eat and dance. Which is good because Masumi has over a hundred guests attending. Between her father’s seven siblings and their spouses, her sixteen cousins, her older cousin’s spouses and children, and her friends, this party promises to be packed.

And Masumi’s head is packed because of it, she simply has no space to think about anything other than this party. When she’s in school and talking to one of her four crushes, and she feels her heart pounding and butterflies in her stomach, she pictures her dress or her cake or her family. She wonders if she’s actually this excited for her birthday or if it has something to do with the psychology of tricking herself into thinking of something else.

But when the time finally arrives, Masumi can honestly say that the butterflies in her stomach have nothing to do with love and everything to do with how happy she is. Her grandma arrives from India along with Masumi’s youngest aunt, and together they cover Masumi’s hands and arms in mehndi. It’s a day long process that gives them plenty of time to talk about school and life in general, and how proud they both are of what a fine young lady Masumi is growing into. When the mehndi is dried and set and the excess dye is washed off, grandma gives Masumi a set of gold bangles as a birthday gift. Masumi puts them on right away and has her mom take a picture of her hands, with the mehndi and bangles.

She posts the picture on Instagram and captions it, ‘Preparations are in full swing!’ Yuzu is the first to comment, leaving a dozen heart-eyed emojis. Emboldened by her own excitement, Masumi responds with a kiss emoji. She half wonders what’s wrong with her, half dares herself to descend into hard-core flirting. It’s her party, she can flirt if she wants to! But before she can see if Yuzu is going to respond, she gets called by her mother to come welcome her incoming aunts, uncles, and cousins. In all the chaos of the family gathering, Masumi actually forgets to go back on Instagram, and she goes to sleep without checking to see if Yuzu responded to her.

On the morning of her party, Masumi wakes up to her little brother and her cousin’s daughter, Divya, banging into her room and jumping on her bed. “Wake up!” They shout. “It’s time to start getting ready!”

Masumi sits up, wraps both children up in her arms, and tugs them down with her. “Time to sleep,” she whispers playfully.

After much whining and many kisses from both children, Masumi finally gets up and goes downstairs. Everyone is awake, grandma and mom are making breakfast, and there are three white boxes with yellow ribbons on the kitchen table.

“What’s all this?” Masumi asks.

Her father smiles at her. “What do you think?”

Masumi takes a seat at the table, feeling a lump in her throat already and she hasn’t even opened her gifts yet. “Is it…Pokémon cards?”

Her father laughs. “Open this one first,” he says, gesturing to a long box. “I made them, but all of your aunts and uncles commissioned them from me.”

Masumi takes his advice and gasps. Nestled in black velvet are three rings—one spiraled ring with seven tiny flowers formed out of rubies, another ring with two flowers formed out of rubies, and a third ring, this one the shape of a rose made out of diamonds.

“Oh my god!” Masumi cries.

Her father laughs. “What do you think?”

Masumi hugs her aunts and uncles and they tease her for crying. Her father hands her the next box and she cries even harder—it’s a necklace and earring set, swirling designs in gold and rubies, and she damn near drops the box in her haste to hug her father.

“They’re beautiful,” she whispers.

Her father kisses her head. “One left,” he says.

Masumi knows what’s in the last box, and she opens it with shaking fingers. She screams out loud—she’s seen this tiara in her father’s shop, it’s his best seller, and on this one he’s replaced a few of the white crystals with red and yellow ones.

“I take it you like it?” Her mother asks.

“Your mama suggested the different colors,” her father says.

Masumi can hear cameras clicking as she hugs both her parents, tears streaming down her cheeks. They hug her and pat her face dry with tissues, and as soon as she calms down Masumi picks up the tiara and places it on her head. “I am a princess today!” She cries.

Her dad kisses her cheek. “You’re my princess every day,” he says.

Masumi nearly starts crying all over again. She’s so blessed to have such a wonderful family.

But there’s no time to cry. After breakfast the bell rings and more cousins come flooding into the house. Masumi's third oldest (and possibly favorite) cousin Amithi arrives with hair products and she shoos Masumi into the bathroom.

“Shower so we can get your hair done!” She cries.

“So much fuss,” Masumi says as she closes the door.

Amithi yells through the closed door, “Well if you don’t get married, this will be the closest we get to your wedding party!”

That conjures images of her four crushes in white gowns and veils, and Masumi shakes those thoughts away by thinking about the tiara sitting on her bathroom sink. No crushes today, today she is a princess without a prince. Or another princess. Or four princesses. Masumi turns the water temperature to freezing and she yelps.

“What happened?” Amithi asks.

“Stubbed my toe,” Masumi answers. She makes it through the rest of her shower without much of an incident.

It takes two hours for Masumi’s hair to be curled and styled, and then it’s already time for lunch. Masumi’s so excited she can barely eat, but it’s her grandma’s food, so of course she finds a way to eat at least a little bit. After that her cousin Sunila helps her with her makeup, and then it’s time for the dress.

Masumi’s mother is the one who helps her into it. They made sure it fit several days ago already, and Masumi has seen it dozens of times, but her breath still catches when she takes the dress out of the box. The color is a gorgeous pale yellow, it’s decorated with crystals arranged in floral designs, and the ruffled skirt reaches the floor.

“It’s lovely,” her mom sighs.

Masumi sweeps her hair over her shoulder so her mom can zip up the dress. She takes out her jewelry and her mom helps her with the necklace and tiara. Masumi looks at her reflection and gasps. “I really do look like Belle!”

Her mom gestures for her to sit and helps her with her shoes. “Comfortable?”

Masumi nods—she’ll probably kick them off later anyway. But they are pretty, so maybe she’ll tough it out.

There’s a dozen relatives, all armed with cameras, waiting for Masumi as she walks down the stairs. She blushes as everyone gasps and cries about how beautiful and grown up she looks. She poses for probably a hundred pictures—with her parents, her brother, her aunts and uncles and cousins, and her grandma—and then everyone heads off to the venue where they meet the professional photographer and pose for more pictures.

Finally it’s time for the guests to begin arriving. Masumi waits outside the ballroom to welcome everyone; family members who weren’t at Masumi’s house this morning, her mother’s family, her father’s coworkers, and her schoolmates. Yaiba and Hokuto are the first of her friends to arrive, of course Masumi expected nothing less of them. The Sakaki family arrive with baby Sayaka, and Masumi poses for a bunch of pictures with them.

“The Hiiragi’s didn’t come with you?” She asks as casually as she can.

Yuya rolls his eyes. “They were still getting dressed, I think they might be trying to upstage you.”

“But they don’t know what they’re up against,” Sora says quickly. “You look really pretty!”

Several more minutes pass and several more guests arrive before the Hiiragi’s do, and Masumi hears them before she sees them—Serena is yelling for Rin to hurry up before they all die of old age, and Masumi can’t hold back a laugh. Serena dashes up the stairs and stops dead.

“OH MY GOD!” Serena screeches, “Look at you!”

“Look at you!” Masumi cries, her heart hammering against her ribs. Serena’s dress is all black, a tulle skirt and sequined top with a deep neckline. The rest of the girls come racing up the stairs and for a moment the five of them just stare at each other. Rin is in a sequin dress that shimmers in pink, red, yellow and silver, Yuzu is wearing a lacy pink dress, and Ruri is in a deep blue dress that seems to float around her. Shuzo and Shun almost bump into the girls as they walk up the stairs.

“Ah, Masumi!” Shuzo cries, and all five girls jump, “You look wonderful!”

Yuzu, Serena, Rin and Ruri snap to attention and race to Masumi’s side.

“You’re stunning!” Yuzu cries, hugging Masumi. She’s immediately lightheaded—Yuzu smells just like her shirt did all those months ago, that scent is forever burned into Masumi’s senses.

“Like a princess,” Serena says, and Rin and Ruri nod in agreement.

“You all look amazing, too,” Masumi says.

Yuzu giggles. “This lot has never been invited to a big party like this, not that I’ve been to many either.”

“I don’t know how I slept last night,” Rin admits.

“I don’t think I did!” Ruri says.

Masumi sees the photographer glancing at her and she motions for everyone to stand with her. “Come on, let’s take a picture.”

Shun stays out of the first set of photos. The photographer directs the girls to stand two on either side of Masumi. With Yuzu and Ruri pressed close to Masumi’s sides, they each take one of her hands. Masumi gulps and prays to god that her face doesn’t look like it’s on fire. The photographer snaps a few pictures and then he tells Masumi to put her arms around the girls’ shoulders. They all move even closer together and Masumi smiles as widely as she can. Is this a dream? It must be.

Shun and Shuzo join for a picture and then Masumi tells them all to head inside, hoping she doesn’t sound too disappointed. Now all she wants is for all the guests to hurry up and get here so she can go back inside and stare at the girls she’s got crushes on. Princess without other princesses be damned, that was before she knew the foursome were literal goddesses among men!

Finally the stream of gests slows and Masumi makes her grand entrance into the ballroom, escorted by her father. She forgets all about finding her crushes, because it’s time for her father/daughter dance. Which of course, means she cries. She’s actually pretty good at ballroom dancing and took a few lessons, but after only a few short counts she’s crying too hard to really do much besides sway slowly on the floor with her dad and cry on his shoulder. Then Mamoru sees her crying and runs over to her, and her father/daughter dance becomes a brother/sister dance.

When the tears have dried, the DJ amps up the music and puts on some songs to get everyone on the dance floor. Masumi is immediately surrounded by her cousins, all of whom want to dance with her. She spots Noboru in a corner with her youngest cousins and the kids from You Show, giving them piggyback rides, and Shingo on the dance floor flirting with her cousins, but those are the only people from her group of friends she can see. Eventually she realizes that Hokuto is standing next to her, and he leans down to speak in her ear.

“We have some wall flowers!” He says as he points toward the tables.

Masumi looks to where he’s pointing. Her new friends are, indeed, hugging the walls. Or at least their chairs. Shun especially looks like he’s going to stay glued to his chair all night, Sora looks like the only thing holding him back is his friends, and everyone else seems like they want to go dance, but they’re too shy.

Masumi breaks away from the dance floor and rushes to the tables. “Come on!” She calls. She grabs Shun’s hands and tugs him up. His cheeks turn pink and he glances around. Masumi laughs. “All of you, let’s go!” She says. She grabs Yuri and hauls him up, she pushes Sora towards the dance floor, and she takes Serena’s hand. “Come dance with me!”

The group follows Masumi on to the floor. They find Hokuto and Yaiba. Masumi hip-checks Shun in their direction. “Take care of this one for me!” She yells, and then she takes hold of both of Serena’s hands.

“I don’t know how to dance!” Serena says. Yuzu, Rin, and Ruri look equally conflicted.

“Who cares?” Masumi laughs, “Just have fun!” She leads Serena in a few simple steps, and she leans over and pokes Ruri’s stomach. “Come on, just have fun!”

The song changes—it’s one that Masumi knows from her cousin’s wedding last year, the Cupid Shuffle. “Okay, here we go!” She says, “This one’s so easy, just watch me!”

Watch the entire crowd more like it. Her cousin learned the song and dance at a wedding in America, brought it to her own wedding, and made every cousin swear to play it at their own party. All of Masumi's relatives know it, and it’s so simple that soon everyone follows along. Masumi can see the photographer out of the corner of her eye, snapping pictures. She hopes he’s getting the look of joy on her friends’ faces, she hopes he gets a shot of Yuto and Shun holding hands, she hopes he gets Yuzu’s laugh when she narrowly avoids going the wrong direction. But at the same time, Masumi knows that no photograph will ever truly capture the joy she feels in this moment, surrounded by her friends and family, so she closes her eyes and takes a picture with her heart, hoping that she’ll never forget this feeling.

After a while, Masumi's mother finds her and lets her know that the food is ready. She makes an announcement at the DJ’s booth, quickly eats a little something, and goes around the tables to speak to all the guests. Then it’s time for the cake, and Masumi gives a short speech to thank everyone for coming to celebrate her seventeenth birthday with her before she blows out the candles. She doesn’t make a wish, mostly because she knows she would stand there forever trying to figure how to wish for what she really wants—for everything to somehow work out so that the least amount of people get hurt—and it’s not really a happy wish, so Masumi smiles as she cuts her cake and poses for a picture with her mom, dad, and baby brother.

After everyone eats their cake, there’s more dancing. Masumi kicks off her heels and leads her friends and cousins as they dance to current radio hits and nostalgic songs. She doesn’t have to pull anyone off a wall, or out of their seat. Everyone is having fun on the dance floor, which is really all Masumi could ever ask for. She knows the party will be winding down soon, and she’s not ready for it to end, but if it has to be over, she’s okay with that. She had fun, her friends and family had fun, and she’ll always remember this night.

When the party does wind down and people start leaving, Masumi collapses into a chair and grabs a napkin to fan herself. Her hair is starting to fall out of the pins, and she’s sweating. She undoes her hairdo and lets her limp curls fall. Someone hands her a hair tie and she pulls her hair into a ponytail. She keeps her tiara on, she loves it too much to take it off.

“Did you have fun?” Her mother asks.

Masumi smiles. “Of course I did, this was the best night of my life!”

Masumi’s cousins grab helium balloons and they all rip holes in the rubber so they can inhale the gas and talk like chipmunks. They get dizzy off the helium and lightheaded from lack of air as they giggle uncontrollably.

Masumi feels a hand on her shoulder and looks up to see Ruri grinning at her, the other three girls standing close behind. “We’re leaving now,” she says, sounding a bit sad about it.

Masumi stands up and hugs her. “I hope you had fun,” she says, her voice still high from the helium. She’s trying to be serious but she starts laughing and she can’t stop. Ruri laughs with her, and Yuzu, Rin, and Serena join in. the four of them inhale some helium and yell “Happy birthday, Masumi!” And then all five of them laugh so hard they fall on the floor with it. After a few minutes Masumi manages to catch her breath, and she wipes tears of mirth from her eyes.

“Okay,” she says breathlessly, “I’ll see you guys at school.” She hugs all four of them tightly. “Thanks so much for coming!”

Masumi can’t stand to watch them leave, so she goes back to messing around with her cousins. She doesn’t see the looks of longing cast in her direction. Masumi has no way of knowing it, but four girls have fallen a little bit deeper in love with her tonight.


	7. Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 chapter update since this one is really, really short, but it was necessary.

“Is she dense, or not interested?”

“Well, have you guys been dropping hints?”

“I’ve been dropping hints, I’ve been dropping hints like they’re hot!”

“That makes no sense.”

“It does too!”

“Whoa now, let’s think about this logically, okay? If she does realize that we’re all dropping hints, maybe she’s weirded out.”

“Please, that girl is drooling over us.”

“Maybe she thinks it’s weird to like four people at once. Maybe she thinks it’s weird to like girls at all!”

“…I think it’s more the first one.”

“I doubt this is a sexual orientation crisis.”

“Yeah, maybe you’re right.”

“Maybe she thinks she needs to pick one of us.”

“Not happening.”

“You can’t decide that for her.”

“Then we should tell her!”

“What, all four of us corner her at once and be like, ‘Hey, we like you, go out with us please!’”

“Not corner her…”

“How else would we do this? She’d probably run if she figured it out, haven’t you noticed she runs from her problems?”

“If it were me I’d be flattered, having four hot girls chasing after me.”

“Masumi isn’t you.”

“Thank god for that.”

“Focus, guys!”

“What are we even talking about? I lost track.”

“We’re trying to figure out if Masumi knows that we all like her!”

“And why she’s not picking up on the hints we’re dropping that we are, indeed, flirting with her.”

“Well if it’s an issue of all four of us liking her at once and her not knowing what to do about it, there is one thing we could try.”

“Oh? Pray tell.”

“…we could try not being four people.”

“What—wait, you want us to be Ray?”

“For Masumi?!”

“It’s a thought.”

“It’s a stupid thought!”

“Serena, don’t talk to Ruri like that.”

“I’m sorry but why should we change who we are?”

“We are Ray. Maybe Masumi doesn’t know how to be in love with four different people. Think about it, maybe she’s worried about hurting one of us. Maybe she’s worried about ruining her relationship with all of us if something goes wrong. Most relationships are between two people. Maybe we should, if nothing else, let Masumi meet Ray.”

“And what if she doesn’t like Ray?”

“What if _Ray_ doesn’t like _her?_ ”

“We are Ray, I’m pretty sure the fact that we all like Masumi means Ray likes her too.”

“Whoa, that sounded bitter.”

“I guess I’m just…wondering, you know? Does anything we do or like come from our own heads? Is this just more proof that we should have just been Ray, and only Ray?”

“Bigger problem than that—what if we become Ray and we can’t stop being her? What if we lose ourselves trying to introduce Ray to Masumi?”

“Masumi doesn’t think that’ll happen.”

“Oh, well, excuse me if I don’t take her word for it. I adore her but come on, I’m not gonna jump on the Ray train because she has faith in my ability to keep being a bitch.”

“You’re not a bitch.”

“I inherited all of Ray’s bitchiness. I’m the spice, you guys are the sugar and everything nice.”

“Oh, does that make Rin chemical X?”

“HEY!”

“No, Rin is…a little less sugar but still everything nice.”

“We were going somewhere with this conversation?”

“Right, okay new question—do we introduce Masumi to Ray or not?”

“Why don’t we ask Masumi if she’d like to meet Ray and take it from there?”

“…That could work.”

“I’m still worried about not being able to be myself again.”

“We’ve done it before.”

“Not in such an emotionally charged situation.”

“We could practice?”

“Being Ray and then not being Ray?”

“I mean, it would be weird if we try to come together as one for Masumi and we can’t do it.”

“Ugh, fine, we can practice. This girl better appreciate what we go through for her.”

“If she even agrees that she wants to meet Ray.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And yes, you're not really supposed to know who's talking, but I'd imagine you can guess some of the time.


	8. Ray

Masumi’s phone buzzes with a text and she picks it up. It’s from Yuzu.

_‘Are you home?’_

Masumi responds, _‘Yes, I am. What’s up?’_

_‘We’re outside your house.’_

Masumi gets up from her desk and looks out her window to the front yard. She sees what Yuzu meant by ‘we’—Serena, Ruri, and Rin are with her. Masumi goes downstairs and opens the door for them.

“Did I know you were coming?” Masumi asks.

Yuzu rubs the back of her neck. “No, we um…decided to come here kind of just now.”

“Is everything alright?” Masumi asks. They’ve been acting kind of differently lately, a little more secretive than usual.

Yuzu looks at Ruri, and Ruri clears her throat. “We had a question for you. Do you want to meet Ray?”

Masumi’s eyes widen and she has to go over those words in her head. “Meet Ray?” She echoes.

“Yep,” Ruri says, smiling, but she looks nervous. “We’ve been talking it over and, well, we wanted to give you the option of meeting her. You’re a dear friend to us, and honestly, the only one left who hasn’t met Ray.”

“And we understand if you need time to think about it,” Yuzu adds quickly, “We just wanted to tell you in person and not like, in school or something.”

They rehearsed this, Masumi realizes. They practiced what they would say to her, they put thought and effort into making their intentions clear and respectful. It’s touching, and Masumi honestly love them even more for it.

“Are you sure you’re…comfortable with it?” Masumi asks.

All four of them nod. “We’ve been talking about it for a while,” Serena admits.

“Then I don’t need to think about it,” Masumi says. “The answer is yes, I’d like to meet Ray.”

They all look kind of surprised. “Wow,” Rin laughs, “Should we have offered sooner?”

Masumi shakes her head. “No. I can tell this means a lot to all of you, and I’m honored, honestly, that you thought of asking me this at all.” She steps out of the doorway. “Do you want to come in? I mean, you don’t have to do anything now, but you came all this way, do you want something to drink?”

“We can do this now!” Serena says. She glances between the other three girls beside her. “Um, I mean, I’m cool with it.”

Yuzu bites her lip. “Is there somewhere we can…I mean is this a good time for you?”

Masumi nods. “My parents are out with Mamoru, we’re alone.”

She’s pretty sure she hears Serena whimper, but she could be imagining things. Masumi leads the way up to her room.

“Actually, I have something for you guys,” she says as she opens her door, “The pictures from my party finally arrived, and I have copies for you guys.” It’s been a month and a half since the party, and it took this long for Masumi to sit down and go through the pictures. The photographer did a great job of capturing the moments from the party. She picks up the copies of the pictures from the beginning of the night, of herself dancing with Serena, of the five of them laughing hysterically over a helium balloon, and she hands them out to all four of her friends. For a moment they forget what they’re about to do.

“Oh wow,” Yuzu says, “We look amazing.”

Masumi points to the opposite wall. “Did you see?”

They all look to where she’s pointing and gasp. Masumi has had several pictures framed—herself with her cousins, a shot of the cake cutting, and her favorite picture, the one she took with her four princesses at the start of the night, with her arms around their shoulders.

“That’s my favorite picture of all of us,” Masumi says. “You each got a copy of that one.” She almost flinches—of course they know that, they just looked at the pictures.

“I love that photo,” Yuzu says, her tone dreamy. Masumi’s heart skips a few beats. She feels her face heat up.

“So,” Masumi says, perhaps a little too loudly, “Should I, um, leave and come back? Do you need space for this?”

“You can stay if you want,” Rin says, “The only warning would be to cover your eyes, there tends to be a bright light.”

“Okay,” Masumi says. She takes a seat on the edge of her bed. “Whenever you’re ready then, I guess.”

The girls put their pictures aside and stand together.

“Ready?” Yuzu asks.

The other three nod, and they stand in a circle. They all extend their hands, or rather their wrists, and they touch their bracelets together. Masumi shuts her eyes just as a bright light floods the room, and she keeps her eyes squeezed shut until she hears a new voice.

“Masumi?”

Masumi opens her eyes and gasps. “R-Ray?”

Masumi knows this girl, and yet she doesn’t know her. She knows the kindness and hesitation in those eyes, she knows that hopeful smile, those graceful fingers. She knows that face, that’s Yuzu’s face, but it’s also Serena’s, and Rin’s, and Ruri’s, and yet it’s not them. This is Ray, and Masumi knows her, but she doesn’t know her. Masumi curls her fingers into her quilt and tries not to hyperventilate.

“Yes, I’m Ray,” the girl says. She kneels on the floor and gazes up at Masumi. “Do you need me to leave?”

Masumi shakes her head. “No, no, I’ll be okay in a minute.”

Ray smiles. “It can be a bit shocking, can’t it?”

Masumi gulps. “Who are you? What do you know?”

“I know what they know,” Ray says. “I have their memories, and my own. But I am my own person. When I’m no longer here, and they are, they won’t remember this. They’ll know what happened, what we talked about, what we said to each other, but they won’t remember saying it. It’ll be like reading it in a book. The words are there, but there aren’t any pictures.”

“How?” Masumi whispers, not expecting an answer.

“I have no answer to that, no logical one at least,” Ray says. “But there’s a lot in this world that defies logic, especially when it comes to the interaction between the dimensions. I’m sure many a scientist or philosopher would argue with me on that, but as I’m neither of those things, I chose to just accept and try not to think too hard about it.”

“I do that, too,” Masumi mutters.

“I know that,” Ray says. “But I think you failed.”

Masumi looks up at her. “Huh?”

Ray shakes her head. “Never mind. This is our first official meeting, though I feel like I know a lot about you. So what would you like to know about me?”

Masumi shrugs. “I don’t know, I didn’t think that far ahead. Um…how old are you?”

Ray grins. “Seventeen, the same as they are. I was older when…when I sacrificed myself. I was reborn, and here I am.”

Masumi twists her fingers in her lap. “And…I guess…do you want to…I don’t know…”

Ray laughs softly. “May I sit with you?”

Masumi nods and Ray rises gracefully to sit on the bed. “It’s strange for me as well, being like this. I always retain some part of myself, but I am also four other people now. In my past life, I enjoyed competitions. I enjoyed the rush of winning, I liked making my father proud. I was selfish. Being reborn and split into four people taught me selflessness. I was almost too late to realize it, but these four girls who lived as part of me, they met amazing people who showed them life beyond anything I could have imagined. I never realized how sheltered I was, and how like my father I was in believing I knew best. That’s why, and you can tell them that I said this, because I know they worry, they’ll never lose themselves. I won’t let it happen, because there’s simply too much at stake. I’m a better person now for being split apart.”

Masumi exhales and feels some tension leave her body. She feels like she can trust Ray now. “I will tell them that.”

Ray smiles and extends her hand. “May I?”

Masumi is confused, but holds her own hand out automatically. Ray takes Masumi’s hand between both of her own.

“You’re a wonderful young lady,” Ray says. “I can see it in their memories of you. You’re very dear to them.”

Masumi knows her cheeks are red, and she feels like her poor heart is going to beat out of her chest. “I am?”

Ray nods. “Masumi, I can’t tell what you want to know. And I know what you want to know. Even if they don’t remember, I can’t betray their thoughts like this.”

Masumi gulps. “You know?” She squeaks.

Ray smiles. “Of course, I can see it in your eyes. They’re very expressive. Just like now I can see that you’re very conflicted.”

Masumi is conflicted. What is she supposed to feel for Ray? Is she supposed to love Ray the way she loves Yuzu, Serena, Rin, and Ruri? She doesn’t know Ray; but doesn’t she know Ray?

“Do I know you?” Masumi blurts.

Ray smiles. “No. you know pieces of me, but as I said, I’m not them. You’re right to be wary of me, though I hope one day we can be friends. For now, I think, this is enough. It’s a lot to take in, and you’ve already learned so much today.”

“I have?” Masumi asks.

Ray nods. “Give it time, you’ll understand it. It’s about time for me to go, but I will say this—don’t over think what they say to you. They’re not trying to trick you.”

Masumi’s first instinct is to deny she’s ever done such a thing, but Ray is spot on. “Are you omniscient?”

Ray laughs, not like she’s being mean. She genuinely laughs, and it’s infectious. Masumi giggles. “Okay, I guess not. But it seems like you are.”

“Well, I do see things from multiple perspectives,” Ray says with a wink. She releases Masumi’s hand and stands up. “I think I should go now. It was lovely to meet you.” She gestures over her shoulder. “And I love that picture.”

Masumi shuts her eyes as there’s another flash of white light. When she opens them again, Ray is gone, and four girls stand in her place.

“You’re smiling!” Serena cries, “Did it go well?”

“You really don’t remember,” Masumi murmurs. “She said so.”

“Oh, good,” Yuzu says. “Yeah, we’re still not sure how it all works. How did it go?”

Masumi smiles. “It was a nice meeting. Ray is very nice. And she had a message for you.”

“What was it?” Rin asks, and they all look apprehensive.

Masumi smiles reassuringly. “She said she’ll never let you lose yourselves for her, because she likes being this way. She said you’ve all taught her too much about life for you to lose yourselves.”

They all look shocked. Serena falls to her knees, and she blinks back tears. “Oh, god,” she whimpers. She covers her face.

Masumi lets Yuzu, Rin, and Ruri comfort her. She slides off her bed and offers some tissues, but she doesn’t try to touch Serena, or talk to her. She knows this moment is not for her, it’s for them.

When Serena calms down, Yuzu suggests they head home. They all hug Masumi before they leave.

“I’m really glad we came here,” Serena says.

Masumi squeezes her hand. “So am I.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was very much channeling Steven Universe gem-fusion vibes when I wrote this story, and this chapter in particular.


	9. Quint

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quint - a sequence of five cards of the same suit (in this case, hearts. AND MASUMI IS THE QUEEN OF HEARTS)

Masumi raises an eyebrow when Serena holds up a bottle of vodka. “Where did you get that?” She asks.

“We can legally drink, you know,” she says. “I bought it.”

“And I bought this,” Shun says, holding up a bottle of rum. Yaiba eyes it, and Masumi puts him in a headlock.

“Not for you.”

Yaiba squirms. “Oh come on, I graduated, too!”

“Yes but you’re still a year younger than the rest of us,” Masumi says.

“I got you, bro,” Shingo yells. Masumi glares at him. As much as she tries to be the ‘mom friend,’ she knows she can’t stop someone from sneaking Yaiba alcohol. She releases him with a sigh. “My son, all grown up.”

“When have I ever been your son?” Yaiba shouts as everyone laughs.

The party is taking place in Masumi’s house, her parents gave their permission, packed up Mamoru, and left for the night. It’s been a week since high school graduation, and Masumi has just now gotten all her friends together to celebrate. Senior year was a train wreck of anxiety and deadlines, but they all made it through, and they all got into college. It is time to have fun.

“Okay,” Yuya calls as he digs into a bag. “What should we start with, Twister or Jenga?”

“Jenga,” comes the response from multiple people.

“We can all play that together,” Yuzu says. “But use two games since there’s so many of us.”

Yuya begins to set up a giant tower, with help from Rin and Yugo. It’s going to be fun, seeing how coordinated they stay as they drink. It’s also going to be fun seeing how many of her friends can hold their alcohol, they’ve never done this before. Shun goes into the kitchen to mix a few things, and Yuri follows him, looking suspiciously happy. Masumi is about to follow but gets distracted by Yuzu, asking her to help write punishments for the losers of their games.

They write things on little slips of paper, to be balled up and put in a bag. Eat a lemon, tell us an embarrassing story about yourself, pretend to be a chicken.

Masumi looks at the pieces of paper and bites her lip. It’s so cliché, but you only live once.

‘Seven minutes in heaven,’ she writes, and she quickly crumples the paper and puts it in the bag.

Shun comes back with the drinks and Yuri skips along after him.

“I have another punishment game,” he says gleefully, “Pick from five shot glasses, four have vodka, one has vinegar.”

“You’ve been watching too many idol shows,” Yuya cries, but Yuzu laughs and writes it down anyway.

They take seats around the coffee table where the tower is set up. It looks steady, which isn’t surprising given that two engineering majors helped set it up.

“Is it going to fall at all?” Yuto asks.

“It will,” Yugo says, “After all, not everyone here is an engineer.”

“And no cheating!” Hokuto yells, looking at Masumi.

She gasps. “How could you accuse such a thing?”

“I know you kicked the table last time, I swear it on my own grave!”

Masumi rolls her eyes. Okay, maybe she did kick the table, but Hokuto can’t prove it.

The game lasts half an hour, with tensions getting really high in the last five minutes. Ruri is the one to knock the tower over, and from the punishment bag, she draws the shot guessing game. She gets the vodka, but she spits it out.

“I think I would have rather had the vinegar,” she says, wrinkling her nose. “That’s gross.”

They play Twister next, four rounds of it. Shun, Yuri, Shingo, and Yuzu are the losers, and they get a variety of tame punishments. So far, no one has picked Masumi’s ‘seven minutes’ dare.

After Twister, everyone’s had at least one drink. Masumi has been sipping the same rum and coke since the beginning of the night, so her head is still clear. Yuzu is sitting next to her, extremely close, and she keeps leaning her head on Masumi’s shoulder. It’s been a while since Masumi met Ray, but she hasn’t forgotten what was said to her. ‘They’re not trying to trick you.’ Masumi has come close to confessing her feeling several times over the course of the year, but it never felt like the right time. She looks around the group at Rin, Ruri, and Serena. They’re all so dear to her, and while they’re staying in the city, they won’t all be going to the same school anymore. She won’t see them as often. Will her feelings fade with time? She doubts it. Maybe this is the perfect time to confess, when they won’t be together all the time, when absence can make the heart grow fonder, when they’re all starting a new adventure.

Yuzu taps Masumi’s hand. “It’s your turn,” she says.

Masumi nods and reaches for the tower. She blames her own distraction for this—she doesn’t even grab a block. Her wrist bumps the tower and it topples. She stares at the mess of blocks, she didn’t realize it had gotten that unstable.

Hokuto laughs. “Wow, that was smooth!”

Masumi rolls her eyes. “Oh, hush,” she says. Serena holds out the punishment bag and Masumi picks a paper. She unfolds it, and stares in shock at her own handwriting.

“What’s it say?” Yuzu prompts when Masumi doesn’t read it out loud.

Serena snatches the paper, reads it, and frowns. “What’s ‘seven minutes in heaven?’”

Yuya, who has just taken a sip of water, chokes and starts coughing. “Who wrote that?” He wheezes.

Masumi keeps her mouth shut. She hates herself.

“Um, want to pick another one?” Yuzu offers, blushing.

“But what is it?” Serena whines.

“It’s when you go in a closet and make out with someone,” Hokuto says.

“You don’t have to make out,” Masumi corrects. “It’s just…forever implied.”

“How would we even decide who you do that with?” Yaiba asks.

“Spin the bottle?” Shingo suggests. He grabs the vodka bottle, makes sure the cap in on tight, and lays it on the table. “Give it a spin, Masumi.”

Masumi grabs the bottle and spins it, her heart in her throat. It lands on Yuzu.

Everyone gapes.

“Um…” Yuzu says, her cheeks red. Masumi glances at Serena, Ruri, and Rin. They look horrified, conflicted, and unsure.

“Shouldn’t it be all four of you, then?” Masumi asks. Everyone stares at her. Her palms are sweating and she wipes them on her legs. “I mean, isn’t it only fair?”

Ruri and Yuzu blush bright red. Rin smiles hesitantly.

Serena leaps to her feet. “I’m down for that!” She hollers.

“Oh boy, look at the time!” Yaiba yells.

“What about it?” Shingo asks.

“It’s midnight!”

“So? What are you, Cinderella?”

“It’s late!” Yaiba insists. “We should go. Thanks for the hospitality, Masumi.”

“Yeah, thanks!” Hokuto says. “But we should go.”

“I have to agree,” Masumi says. She’s looking at Serena. “Goodbye, boys.”

“What? What the hell?” Shingo sputters. Shun grabs him and hauls him to his feet.

“Let’s go,” Shun says firmly. He looks at his sister. “You _will_ call me later.”

Masumi, Yuzu, Rin, Ruri, and Serena stay seated as all the boys gather their things and hightail it out of the house like the place is on fire. Shingo is still whining, and Masumi distinctly hears Shun call him a pervert as he hauls Shingo out of the house. When the door slams behind the last person to leave, Masumi gets to her feet.

“I meant it,” she says firmly. “It should be all of you.”

Ruri swallows. “All…of us?”

“Why not?” Masumi asks.

“You still want to…I mean, everyone’s gone.” Rin says.

“The girl wants what she wants,” Serena says.

“So, are you first then?” Masumi asks her.

“No way,” Serena say with a smirk. “Best for last.”

“Hey!” Yuzu cries.

“That’s right, Yuzu should be first,” Serena says. “After all, the bottle did land on her.”

Masumi grins. “I warn you, I’m not doing this in a closet.”

“Okay…bathroom?” Serena suggests.

“Fine by me,” Masumi says. “Someone set a timer for seven minutes.” She holds out her hand to Yuzu. After a second of hesitation, Yuzu takes it, and Masumi hauls her to her feet. She looks around at the remaining girls. “I’ll be back for you.”

Ruri’s face looks like it’s on fire, she’s so red, and Rin looks like she’s going to pass out. Serena grins wickedly.

Masumi leads Yuzu to the bathroom. She’s suddenly very, very glad that she wrote this idea down. Now comes the fun part—seven times four. She has 28 minutes to tell these girls what they mean to her, and every second counts.

 

“We don’t have to kiss,” Masumi says as she closes the bathroom door.

Yuzu nods.

“But if we do,” Masumi says, “I don’t want this to be the last time.”

Yuzu’s eyes widen. “You don’t?”

Masumi shakes her head. “That goes for all of you. If you’re all okay with it. And I’ll say the same thing to Ruri, Rin, and Serena.”

Yuzu’s jaw drops. “Oh my god. You do like us.”

“You knew?” Masumi asks.

Yuzu twists her hands together. “We…hoped,” she says. “We just didn’t know, I mean there’s four of us, we didn’t know what to say, how to tell you. We tried but we just…”

“How long?” Masumi interrupts.

Yuzu bites her lip. “Dear god, for me…since our rematch in the tournament. Since you gave me Crystal Rose.”

Masumi laughs. “Me, too.”

Yuzu smiles and takes a step towards Masumi. “I’m sorry. I should have told you sooner.”

Masumi takes Yuzu hands and laces their fingers together. She leans forward and bumps their foreheads together. “Well, now we know,” she says quietly.

Yuzu tilts her head slightly. Masumi’s breath catches in her throat as Yuzu kisses her. Soft and sweet, a kiss befitting of Yuzu. It lasts mere seconds, not nearly long enough. Masumi chases Yuzu as she leans back, and she kisses her again. Yuzu squeezes Masumi’s hands—her fingers are shaking. Masumi breaks the kiss, but she doesn’t move away from Yuzu at all. She keeps her eyes closed (when did she close them?) and she’s so close she can feel the heat radiating off of Yuzu’s cheeks. For a few seconds, the only sounds is the two of them trying to catch their breath.

“Again?” Yuzu asks quietly.

Masumi doesn’t need to be asked twice. She releases one of Yuzu’s hands to cup the back of her head, fingers in her hair, and Yuzu rests her hand on Masumi’s waist. They stay like that until they hear a knock on the door.

“Masumi, Ruri wants to know if she can be next,” Serena calls.

Yuzu grins, and Masumi answers, “Yeah, that’s fine with me.” She gives Yuzu’s hand a final squeeze. “Tell Rin and Serena what I told you.”

Yuzu nods, and she kisses Masumi’s cheek. “See you soon,” she says. She exits the bathroom, and Ruri enters, her cheeks pink.

“Hi,” Ruri says shyly as she closes the door.

Masumi grins at her. “Hi, yourself.” She gestures for Ruri to come closer, and holds out her hand. Ruri takes it. “I told this to Yuzu,” she says, “I don’t want this to be a one-time thing, for any of us.”

Ruri’s eyes widen. “You don’t? You…all of us?”

“If it’s okay with all of you,” Masumi says.

Ruri beams. “Oh my god, that’s amazing! We talked about it, I mean we all realized we liked you and we wanted to make sure we were all on the same page, but we never knew how to tell you, and we tried so hard to flirt without being too overbearing, did it work? I mean it must have for you to say—or maybe not, did you know?”

She’s babbling. It’s cute, in a way. Masumi can tell she’s nervous. Ruri is still talking as Masumi places her hand on Ruri’s cheek and kisses her, mid-sentence. She keeps it short, but it’s enough to shock Ruri into silence.

“You weren’t overbearing,” Masumi says.

Ruri sighs. “Okay. Um…” she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “What now?” She asks.

“God, you look like a princess,” Masumi groans, dropping her head onto Ruri’s shoulder. “Do you know that? You look like a princess straight out of a dang Disney movie.”

Ruri’s hands rest on Masumi’s waist. “Is that good?”

“One day you have to try on my tiara,” Masumi says. “And skip through a field of flowers. We have to find a field of flowers for you. That can be our first date.”

Ruri giggles. “That sounds like fun.” She turns her head and brushes her lips against Masumi’s cheek, the faintest kiss Masumi’s ever gotten.

Masumi lifts her head and meets Ruri’s eyes. “So what was it like out there, when Yuzu and I left?”

“We—Rin and I—were kind of in shock,” Ruri admits. “Serena, not so much. I think she’s going to maul you.”

Masumi feels her face heat up. “And you won’t?” She teases.

Ruri looks thoughtful. “Later,” she says, “After we’ve had a few dates.” She digs her thumbs into Masumi’s sides, and Masumi shrieks with laughter as she doubles over. Ruri laughs and pulls her upright, and Masumi closes her eyes as Ruri kisses her, slow and steady.

The knock on the door makes them jump.

“Already?” Ruri asks, almost whining.

Masumi laughs. She takes Ruri’s hand and places it on her cheek. “I’ve always wondered what your fingers would feel like on my cheek,” she says.

Ruri blushes and squeaks. Masumi kisses her palm. When Ruri leaves the bathroom, she has her hands over her face and she’s muttering to herself.

Rin enters, looking perplexed. “Did you break her?”

“Quite possibly,” Masumi says.

Rin laughs. “Well, Yuzu seemed pretty flabbergasted as well when she left this room. How exactly are you going to mess me up?”

Masumi shrugs. “By being completely honest? And since Yuzu already passed on my first message—she did do that, didn’t she?” Rin nods. Masumi continues, “At some point, I want you to take me for a ride on your bike. And maybe teach me how to ride.”

Rin’s eyes widen. “A ride? On my bike? You know I put it together myself, right?”

“I know,” Masumi says. “That’s pretty amazing.”

Rin stares at her. “You’re not afraid for your life?”

“Why would I be? I trust you.”

Rin laughs. “Wow, okay.”

“What, nobody trusts you to build a safe motorcycle?”

Rin rolls her eyes. “Shun calls it a screaming metal death trap.”

“What does Shun know?” Masumi scoffs. “You’re taking me on that bike. We’re going to ride through time and space on that thing.”

Rin launches herself at Masumi and hugs her tightly. “Yes, we most certainly are! I have to take you riding at night, you’ll love it, it’s absolutely magical! When the stars are out and you’re speeding down an empty road, it’s the best feeling in the world. I can’t wait to share it with you!”

Masumi laughs and strokes Rin’s back. “I can’t wait either.”

Rin turns her head slightly and kisses Masumi’s neck. Masumi gasps, and she feels Rin smirk.

“Are you ticklish?” She asks, her lips just brushing Masumi’s skin.

Masumi squirms. “I’m not sure it’s that,” she says, feeling her cheeks heat up.

“I see,” Rin says. She kisses up Masumi’s neck, across her jaw, and finally her lips. Masumi grips the back of Rin’s shirt and holds on for dear life as Rin kisses her. This is not like kissing Yuzu, or Ruri. Rin kisses like a windy day, strong and persistent, and Masumi feels like she’s being swept off her feet.

She tangles her fingers in Rin’s hair. Rin nips at her lip, and Masumi gives her hair a sharp tug. Rin gasps just as Masumi licks across Rin’s lip. They pull back and stare at each other, flushed and panting.

“Wow,” Rin says breathlessly.

“I agree,” Masumi says.

They dive in for another kiss. Somehow Masumi ends up pushed against the sink, the cold edge of the counter digging into her back, and she’s about to push herself up on the counter when there’s a knock on the door.

“Already?” Masumi asks, pulling away from Rin. Rin leans down and sucks hard on Masumi’s collarbone. Masumi squeaks.

“Oye!” Serena shouts, “It’s my turn, Rin! Don’t turn her brain to mush just yet!”

Rin giggles and takes a step back. She looks positively devious as she winks at Masumi. “Good luck,” she says.

 _‘Good luck.’_ As Serena enters, fire blazing in her eyes, Masumi thinks she’ll need a lot more than luck to survive this.

Serena closes the door. “You sure took your sweet time letting us know what you wanted,” she says.

Masumi flicks her hair over her shoulder, trying to be cool despite the fact that she knows she looks wrecked, and she’s only going to get worse. “Do I have to do all the work around here?” she scoffs.

“Not anymore,” Serena purrs. She steps into Masumi’s personal space, crowding her against the sink. Masumi closes her eyes. Serena kisses Masumi briefly, and introductory kiss, a mere taste of what Masumi can sense is coming. Serena’s got a fire burning under her skin, Masumi can feel it.

“How long have you been wanting to do that?” Masumi asks, barely breaking away from Serena’s mouth.

“Too long,” Serena answers. She grabs Masumi’s thighs, left bare by her shorts, and lifts her up on the sink. She stands between Masumi’s legs, and Masumi gulps. Forget fire, her blood feels like molten lava, she’s so hot.

Serena keeps her hands on Masumi’s thighs as she kisses her again. Masumi reaches up to the back of Serena’s head and tugs her hair out of its ponytail. She cards her fingers through Serena’s hair and parts her lips so Serna can swipe her tongue between them. Serena scrapes her teeth against Masumi’s lower lip and digs her fingers into Masumi’s thighs. Masumi tenses, her knees pressing tight against Serena’s hips. Serena strokes her fingers down Masumi’s inner thighs, all the way up to the hem of her shorts, where she stops. And she never ceases kissing Masumi as she continues to tease.

Masumi tugs sharply on Serena’s hair and she can feel Serena shudder and she smirks. She slips her hands up the back of Serena’s shirt and strokes her fingertips down Serena’s spine, and back up. She stops at the clasp of Serena’s bra and teasingly slips her fingers under the elastic.

“Two can play at this game,” Masumi says, leaning back to smirk at Serena.

Serena’s face is flushed, her lips parted as she breathes heavily, and her eyes have such an intense look in them that Masumi knows she’ll dream about that expression tonight.

The door opens and they both turn to face it. Rin, Ruri, and Yuzu stand in the doorway.

“Has it been seven minutes already?” Masumi asks, surprised.

“No,” Rin answers, leaning against the door frame. “We just wondered if you needed to be rescued.” She eyes Masumi’s hands, inside Serena’s shirt, where she’s still idly stroking the clasp of Serena’s bra. “Maybe Serena needs rescuing.”

Serena laughs and turns back to Masumi, pressing her face against Masumi’s neck. “I think we’re okay,” she says. Masumi tilts her head back.

“She’s sensitive there,” Rin says.

Masumi feels Serena mouth at the same spot on her collarbone that Rin did earlier. Serena presses her teeth against that spot and Masumi gasps and arches towards her. She nearly falls off the sink, and she feels a hand grab her waist to steady her—but it can’t be Serena, her hands are still on Masumi’s thighs. Masumi opens her eyes. It was Yuzu.

“It’s only been half an hour,” Yuzu reminds both of them.

“Fuck off,” Serena mutters against Masumi’s neck, “I’ve waited two years for this.”

“Two years?” Masumi asks.

“God, she’s been crushing on you since the damn car wash,” Rin says, rolling her eyes.

“Jesus,” Masumi says. She gently pushes at Serena’s shoulders, and she leans back with a pout. Masumi pinches her cheek. “It has only been half an hour,” she agrees. “At least take me on a date first.”

Serena grins. “Alright, I can do that.”

“Oh, you only listen to Masumi now?” Yuzu asks.

Serena smirks and lifts Masumi off the sink. Masumi yelps and clings to Serena’s shoulders, but Serena lets her down gently. Masumi had no idea Serena was strong enough to lift her. The thought is making her all hot again.

“We should definitely talk about this together,” Masumi says, fanning herself. “And maybe drink some water.” Some very, very cold water. “And you guys can stay the night, if you want.”

They file out of the bathroom, and it’s like they come back to reality. They go to the kitchen and get something to drink. Ruri calls her brother, Yuzu calls her father to let him know they’re not coming home. For a while they stand in the kitchen in silence, sipping from their water bottles and eyeing each other.

“So what now?” Yuzu asks, finally breaking the silence.

“Guess that’s up to you four to decide,” Masumi says.

“Nu-uh,” Serena says, shaking her head, “You’re in on this, too.”

“But where do your relationships with each other fit into this?” Masumi asks, looking at the four of them. “I don’t want you all like, fighting because of this.”

“I doubt we will,” Ruri says quietly. “We’ve never been jealous of each other.”

“Do you like each other the way you like me?” Masumi presses.

The four of them glance around at each other. “No,” Serena says after a moment. “We’re soulmates, yes, but not in a romantic sense.”

“Or a familial one,” Rin adds quickly.

“So it’s just me then,” Masumi says. She leans against the counter. “Is this going to be a time share? We divvy time up into days of the week?”

Yuzu shrugs. “We can take this one day at a time, you know. And no one will be offended if you say ‘I want to go out with so and so today,’ or anything like that.”

“What are you going to tell your parents?” Ruri asks Masumi.

Masumi hesitates. What will she tell them? “I think I’ll start by telling them about Ray,” she says.

“You haven’t yet?” Yuzu asks, her eyes wide.

Masumi shakes her head. “I didn’t know how you all would feel about it. Is it okay, now?”

“Totally,” Ruri says. “In fact, they can meet Ray if you want.”

“That might be the best way to go about it,” Masumi says. “But what about everyone else?”

“We can talk about that in the morning,” Rin says. “I’m kind of tired, and it’s getting hard to concentrate.”

Masumi has to agree with that.

“Where are we going to sleep?” Serena asks.

Masumi leads them to a storeroom and she digs out sleeping bags and air mattresses. Ruri and Yuzu stay in the living room to inflate the mattresses while Masumi goes upstairs and hunts down pillows, toothbrushes, and pajamas for her guests, with Serena and Rin tagging along to help her carry all the stuff.

“I never realized how much effort actually goes into sleeping,” Serena says.

“I never knew air mattresses were a thing,” Rin says.

Someday Masumi will have to ask about what the other dimensions were like, but she honestly wonders if she wants to know. “Have you guys ever had a sleepover before?”

“Well, when we first moved in with Yuzu, she said it would be like a sleepover until we could all get our own rooms,” Rin says. “And when I was in a group home we all slept in one room.”

“But have you ever had fun at a sleepover?” Masumi prompts. “You know, staying up late and doing girly things like, like…braiding hair and painting nails?”

“And talking about _booooooys?”_ Serena drawls, batting her eyelashes. Masumi kicks her in the butt.

By the time the three of them have tracked down enough stuff for five people, the air mattresses have all been inflated. Masumi hands out pajamas and toothbrushes and there’s a mad dash for the bathrooms. Masumi is the first to finish changing (since she just went straight to her bedroom) and she goes back downstairs and collapses on the sofa. She touches her lips, which are still a little swollen from all the kissing. She finally got what she wanted.

“Think fast!” Serena yells, and it’s all the warning she gets before Masumi gets a pillow in her face.

“What in the world?” Masumi sputters, sitting up.

Serena grins at her. “Aren’t pillow fights like, a thing at sleepovers?”

Masumi barely hears her. “You’re not wearing pants,” she says weakly. “Didn’t I give you them?”

Serena giggles and twirls, showing off her purple boyshorts, peeking out from under the long nightshirt Masumi gave her. “You did, but I don’t usually wear pants to bed.”

“It’s true,” Rin says dryly. “It was chaos one night when Shun bumped into her on the way to the bathroom.”

Masumi can imagine that only too well.

Serena grabs the pillow back and holds it threateningly. “I looked it up on my phone,” she says, “Pillow fights in underwear are a thing.”

“Only in movies,” Yuzu says as she comes down the stairs. “It doesn’t actually happen.”

Serena’s eyes widen and her pout is almost comical, it’s so pitiful. “Aw, but I wanted to have a pillow fight.”

Masumi grabs the pillow behind her head and smacks it against Serena’s head. She squeaks and tumbles to the floor. As she falls she throws out her hands and ends up bumping Rin’s leg, sending her to the floor as well.

“I’m pretty sure this is how lesbian porn starts,” Masumi says as she eyes Serena and Rin, lying in a heap of limbs and hair on the air mattress.

“Probably,” Ruri says dryly as she sits beside Masumi on the sofa. She’s braiding her hair, and Serena points at her.

“Let Masumi braid your hair, that also happens at sleepovers!”

Ruri glances at Masumi. “You can if you want to.”

Masumi scoots behind Ruri and takes hold of her braid. “Wow, you have a lot of hair,” she says, picking up where Ruri left off. Her hair is also very soft, befitting a princess. She regrets not grabbing her tiara from her room, Ruri could have tried it on.

Serena and Rin are still lying in a tangle, and neither seem inclined to do much about it. Rin’s head is pillowed on Serena’s stomach, and Serena is petting her hair with one hand and scrolling through Buzzfeed with another.

“It seems we’ve done every cliché thing we could do at a sleepover,” Serena says. “We drank, we had a pillow fight, I’m in my underwear, and we’ve made out.”

“Congrats on your first real sleepover,” Yuzu says. She lays down and pulls a blanket over her shoulders. “Now let’s sleep.”

Masumi ties off Ruri’s braid and Ruri thanks her. “Are you sleeping up here?” Ruri asks Masumi, gesturing at the sofa.

“The hell she is,” Serena says, glaring at Masumi. “Come join the lesbian pile.” She pats the space beside her and wiggles her eyebrows suggestively. Masumi laughs at her.

“What the hell?” Masumi snorts.

“Stay with me,” Yuzu mutters, “I’ll keep you safe from her.”

Masumi nudges Ruri off the sofa. “You four get comfortable and I’ll decide what I want to do.”

Ruri joins Yuzu on her mattress. Rin wriggles off of Serena, and Masumi moves off the sofa. She stands over all of them and takes a running leap, falling flat across their stomachs. There’s a chorus of groans, and Masumi laughs.

“There, that solves that problem,” she says, grabbing a blanket and pulling it over herself.

“I think you took out my liver,” Rin groans.

“Don’t worry, it’ll grow back,” Masumi says.

It’s not exactly comfortable, sleeping across people’s bodies, but Masumi manages to fall asleep anyway. She stays in roughly the same place all night, and when she wakes up in the morning she’s still laying on top of the four girls she’s had a crush on for over a year, and when she rolls away from them and goes to the bathroom, she spots a hickey on her collarbones.

“It wasn’t a dream then,” Masumi says to herself as she inspects the bruise. She’s got four girlfriends.

Masumi splashes some cold water on her face. The big question now is how to make this work. Surely this has never been attempted before in the history of mankind. Five girls in one relationship, one person dating four others, four others all dating the same girl, all of them knowing about each other. It’ll be a challenge, that’s for sure.

Masumi wipes her eyes and reaches for her toothbrush. She stares at it. How is she supposed to do something as mundane as brushing her teeth when she just got herself four girlfriends?

But it’ll be worth it, Masumi thinks to herself as she proceeds to do just that—brush her teeth. Maybe they’re the first people in history to attempt this, but those four girls out there are worth the effort that’ll go into making it work. And is this really so strange, in a universe where there are four dimensions existing side by side?

Masumi finishes up in the bathroom and goes back to the living room. Yuzu is awake and on her phone, but the others are still asleep. Masumi lays down next to Yuzu, and Yuzu runs her fingers through Masumi’s hair.

“If it ever gets to be too much, let us know,” she says. “We’ll understand.”

Masumi smiles at her. “I don’t think you’ll have to worry. I think you’re all just enough for me.”

 

In the afternoon, when Mausmi’s parents and brother come home, Masumi is waiting for them.

“Hi sweetie,” her mom says, kissing her cheek. “How was the party?”

“Great,” Masumi answers. “And actually, I have something to tell you. But first I want you to meet someone.” She leads her family into the living room, where her guest waits. She watches the surprise on her parents faces, as the both recognize this girl, yet know they have never met her.

Masumi stands beside her. “Mom, dad, Mamoru, this is Ray.”

Ray smiles and bows slightly. “You may know me by several different names.”

Masumi takes Ray’s hand. Time to start talking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've used seven minutes in heaven in fic before, despite never having been a victim of it myself I feel like it solves all multiple pairing problems.
> 
> Anyway, happy new year everyone!


	10. Epilogue

If someone had told Masumi four years ago that her years in undergraduate college would pass in the blink of an eye, she would have laughed at them. But here she is, standing in a sea of graduates, and for a moment she can’t quite remember how she got there. Oh sure, she knows she woke up early in the morning and put on her cap and gown, and her parents drove her here, and she met up with Serena briefly before they got separated by the crowd. But for the moment, Masumi wonders how she went from a wide eyed freshman struggling to balance four girlfriends and a demanding major, to an exhausted sophomore with a declared major in gemology, to junior year abroad in India, away from her girlfriends for an agonizing amount of time, to a senior living off campus with the four loves of her life, settled into a routine of study, work, and domestic life.

Last night Masumi stayed at home with her parents for the first time in a long time, because her grandmother came to Japan to watch her graduate. It was odd, being back in her old room, stripped bare of all her things. Her pictures were in the apartment she shared with her girlfriends, the framed photograph of the five of them at her birthday party now hung by the front door, along with artwork from Ruri’s students at the school where she’s an assistant teacher, a trophy Rin won at an engineering contest, Serena and Masumi’s certificates for being on Dean’s List, and Yuzu’s certificate of honors from her vocal school.

It’s funny that Masumi ever wondered how the relationship could work. It all feels so natural now, after a year of living together and four years of dating. Their apartment has two bedrooms, and sometimes Masumi will share the spare room with one of her girlfriends, but most of the time the five of them sleep together in a huge bed in the master bedroom. True to their word, no one has ever gotten jealous of each other, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t have moments where they all wanted different things, and struggled to balance their affection for each other. It took a lot of work to get to where they are now, both in their relationship and lives.

In a month, Masumi will begin study for her master’s degree in gemology. She works part-time with her father’s jewelry company, designing pieces for them. She’s currently working on a personal design; it's a bracelet, composed of five gold bangles that overlap each other, each decorated with different gems. Pink topaz for Yuzu, purple amethyst for Serena, lapis for Ruri, peridot for Rin, and rubies for herself. And in the center of the design, where the five bangles overlap, she wants to put a diamond. She’s not quite figured out how to anchor the diamond, but she’ll figure it out soon.

As the graduation ceremony draws to a close, Masumi feels her phone vibrate. She glances at the text from Yuzu.

‘See you tonight!’

Masumi grins and texts back, ‘Can’t wait.’

Masumi meets up with her family. She hugs her parents and brother, and her grandmother. They head back to the house, where some more of Masumi’s relatives are waiting. They congratulate Masumi on her graduation, and the house is lively with talk and laughter as they prepare dinner. After a few hours, the doorbell rings and Masumi answers it. She smiles at Ray.

“Ready for this?” Masumi asks, holding out her hand.

Ray nods and laces their fingers together. “Ready.”

Masumi has figured out that, strangely enough, she doesn’t love Ray—not the same way she loves Yuzu, Rin, Ruri, and Serena. But for the sake of simplicity and peace, Masumi and her girlfriends have decided that Masumi will introduce Ray as her girlfriend to her family. Masumi’s parents and brother know the truth, but they also know that it might not be easy to introduce four girlfriends to the family. Masumi regrets it a little, but it’s not a complete untruth.

Masumi leads Ray into the house. “Everyone, come meet my girlfriend!” She calls.

 

 

Someday, Masumi is going to marry Ray in a public ceremony. Her family will come, and so will her friends and the families of Ray’s counterparts. Later, there will be a private ceremony in which Masumi, Yuzu, Ruri, Serena, and Rin all go somewhere alone and recite vows to each other. But Masumi can’t legally marry four people, she can barely legally marry another woman, so though she doesn’t love Ray the way she loves her four girlfriends, and though the four of them aren’t Ray, they all agree that if they want to be legally married, they’ll have to do this. And they do want to be legally married. Because one day, in one way or another, they want to adopt children. That will be a whole hurdle in and of itself, but they’ve managed thus far. Raising a child won’t be so hard, as long as they do it together.

 

 

It’s been a week since graduation. It’s 2 AM, and Masumi is in the kitchen alone, frantically flipping through her sketch book for a blank page. She begins drawing, her mind racing. After a few minutes she hears footsteps in the hall, and four sleepy young women enter the kitchen, blinking in the light.

“Something wrong?” Yuzu asks.

Masumi shakes her head. “I figured it out,” she says.

“What?” Serena asks around a yawn.

Masumi grins and holds up the sketch book. “How to make the diamond fit.”

In the morning, she sends the design to her father, along with a request to change her order from five of these bracelets to six.

“Absolutely,” her father says.

 

 

Masumi closes her eyes against the flash of light, and when she opens them again, Ray is looking at her, confused.

“What happened?” She asks. “I thought you were celebrating your engagement.”

Masumi grins at her. “We are,” she says. They’re at the beach, and the stars are just starting to come out. No one is around to watch the five of them, and now, the two of them. Masumi reaches into her bag and pulls out the box containing the sixth bracelet. “You’re part of this relationship too, you know,” Masumi says as she gets down on one knee, the same way she did for Rin, Yuzu, Serena, and Ruri.

She watches Ray’s eyes widen as she takes in the bracelet. “Oh…” she whispers, “Oh god, Masumi.”

Masumi fastens the bracelet around Ray’s wrist. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from all of this, it’s that love comes in a lot of forms. It may not be the same love, but I do love you, Ray.”

Tears spill over Ray’s cheeks. She tugs Masumi to her feet and hug her. “Thank you,” she whispers.

“Thank you,” Masumi says firmly. “You know, without you I never would have met them.”

“I never thought of it that way,” Ray says.

She doesn’t stay long, because she knows the others are eager to see Masumi again. Masumi kisses Ray’s cheek before she’s enveloped in light and there are four girls standing in her place once more.

“How did it go?” Yuzu asks.

“She loved it,” Masumi says.

“Of course,” Serena says, “How could anyone not?”

Rin gasps and points up. “Guys, a shooting star, make a wish!”

“What do we need to wish for?” Ruri asks.

But Masumi closes her eyes and wishes for the thing she never thought she’d be able to say—she wishes that she’ll live happily ever after with her four fiancées, soon to be her wives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading <3


End file.
